


Tale of Two Halves

by ficeler37



Category: BLACKPINK (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Drama & Romance, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Multiple Personalities
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 40,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28356975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficeler37/pseuds/ficeler37
Summary: The story was a love triangle between two people.  Jennie’s father was a crime lord on the run in Thailand, while her mother died at childbirth.  When Jennie decided to undergo training at YG Entertainment to become an idol, she met a roommate who was unlike anyone she had met before - smol bean by day and vixen by night.  Who said the savage Jennie couldn’t have it all?
Relationships: Jennie Kim/Lalisa Manoban | Lisa, Kim Jisoo/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé
Comments: 22
Kudos: 63





	1. The one where Jennie officially met Lili

**Author's Note:**

> I'm having my first 2-week break in the last 10 years, so I thought I would revisit fanfic writing, something that I had enjoyed doing back when I had more free time in my hands. My story is inspired by movies such as Bodyguard, Storm Riders, My Wife Is a Gangster, etc. My ultimate bias is Blackpink Lisa, and I'm a bit of a crackhead myself, so I hope readers could get a good laugh out of my story. Merry Christmas, everyone!

**_To my dearest Jennie-poo,_ **

****

**_It pains me to send you to New Zealand on your own, but remember that you are in my mind always, and I only wish for your safety. By the time you read this, I will be somewhere in Thailand. I’m not sure if it will ever be safe for me to return to your life in person, but rest assured that you will be well taken care of whatever you choose to do as you grow up._ **

****

**_Love, Da_ **

Jennie re-read the words from her father one more time before putting away the letter that was sent to her 5 years ago. Tomorrow she would jump into a plane to go back to Korea to start training at YG Entertainment to become an idol. The idea of home had made her dig up this letter from her jewellery box, a physical reminder that she was once loved dearly. Jennie could only hope that her father was still alive by the monthly allowances she received in mail. In a way, it was ironic that Jennie had chosen to follow a career path that would put her under the spotlight, when the last 5 years of her life were all about flying under the radar. But she had always loved singing and dancing, at first as an outlet of her negative emotions, though when it came down to it, Jennie supposed being an idol had seemed like a natural career choice because she was all ready to call it quits with going to school.

The flight back to Korea was uneventful, but the real surprise came after Jennie had arrived in the YG dormitory. She was assigned to a two people room, and she found her name plate on the door alongside another girl’s called Lalisa Manoban. When Jennie entered her shared bedroom, one side of the room was already taken, with yellow bunny stuff filling up the space. Jennie naturally gravitated towards the more barren side of the room. There on the bed was a letter neatly placed on the pillow addressed to her. Jennie easily recognized the hand-writing that was a replicate of the letter in her jewellery box. Her heart skipped a beat as she opened up the letter with care. _Why now?_ If Jennie had known she would hear from her father as soon as she left New Zealand, she would have dropped out of school sooner.

**_To my dearest Jennie-poo,_ **

****

**_Congratulations for opening up a new chapter in your life. Your mother in heaven and I, we have no doubt that you will be able to achieve your dreams. The Jennie-poo that I know always knows what she wants, and I am proud of the young woman that you have become. You may not believe me, but I have been watching over you._ **

****

**_Love, Da_ **

_Watching over me? How? By not being around?_ Jennie threw the letter down on the floor in frustration. She flopped face down on her bed, feeling the weight of her father’s words pressing her down into the fluffy duvet.

“Do I need to start putting a DO NOT LITTER sign in our room now?”

Jennie jerked up, startled by a high-pitched innocent-sounding voice close to the foot of the bed.

“Just kidding. I’m pretty messy myself.” A tall and slender girl chuckled and sat down gracefully on the floor with her legs crossed, staring up at Jennie with a curious glance.

If Jennie had not heard the girl’s voice before looking at her face, she would have thought a cute boy randomly ventured into her room, given the short hair and sporty outfit. There was something about the girl in front of her that made Jennie’s heart rate pick up. Maybe it was the big smile that seemed so effortlessly appearing on the person in front of her, especially when Jennie was often reminded by others that she had a resting bitch face. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. You must be Lalisa, my roommate.”

“I go by Lili, and you must be Jennie.” Lili lightly scratched her cheek in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to pop up like a stalker. I was just in the bathroom when you walked in.” 

“Noooo, I’m the one who should be sorry about the letter on the floor.” Jennie jumped off the bed to pick up her father’s letter before sitting back down on her bed. “I’m actually a bit of a neat freak. So you don’t have to worry about my side of the room getting dirty in the future.”

Lili’s voice dropped an octave lower. “That’s too bad. I really don’t mind getting down and dirty once in a while.” Lili’s previously innocent smile suddenly shifted to a mischievous smirk.

_Did she just ... wink at me?_ A slight blush began to creep up on Jennie’s face. _And what’s up with this girl? One minute she has the aura of a cute smol bean, the next thing I know she is spewing words like she is Casanova._

“Plus I really won’t mind if you tell me a couple more flaws or two ... a multitude of sins are always forgiven for pretty girls like you anyways.” 

***SMACK*** Jennie’s pillow hit Lili straight in the face, making Lili fall back with a thud.

“You are way too young to be using these pick-up lines.” Jennie squinted her feline eyes toward Lili to cover up the butterflies in her stomach. “How old are you anyways?”

Lili sat back up and gave her bangs a quick fix. Satisfied, she blew Jennie a quick kiss. “Old enough to tell what a true beauty looks like.”

***SMACK*** A dog stuffed toy appeared out of thin air to knock over Lili again. “Quit it with the cheesy lines.” A fake scowl betrayed by the playful glint in Jennie’s eyes.

“Okay, okay, I’m 14.” Lili was busy fixing her bangs again. “Next time aim lower and leave my poor bangs alone. They need high maintenance.” Lili replied with a pout.

“Great, I’m 15. So you actually should start addressing me as Jennie-unnie. Show some respect.”

“Sexy Jennie-unnie then.” Lil wiggled her eyebrow suggestively.

Jennie rolled her eyes and got out of bed. “That’s it.” Using her arms, she pinned Lili to the ground by straddling her and stared straight into her eyes. Jennie whispered, “Do you know what happens to naughty girls?” 

Lili took a gulp of air to steady herself, unable to control her heartbeats. Being up close and personal with Jennie’s gorgeous profile had been unexpected. 

With the other girl clearly in shock, Jennie bent lower to level her lips to murmur into Lili’s ears. “It’s tickle time.” Nimble hands started ravaging the girl trapped below mercilessly, making sure that all the ticklish spots known to men were well covered.

“Surrender!!!” Lili tried to her best to roll away from Jennie, finally able to catch her breath when Jennie took pity on her and stood up. “Has anyone told you that you are kind of savage?” 

Jennie flopped back down on the bed with a smirk, “Maybe.”

* * *

Jennie and Lili spent the rest of the day getting to know each other, since training did not start until the next day. Jennie learnt that Lili was from Thailand and had a natural linguistic talent, already having mastered Korean on her own before coming to YG. Lili learnt that Jennie had been taking self-defense classes since 4 at the insistence of her father, which explained how easily Jennie was able to overpower Lili despite her smaller physique. But they have also made a pact to not discuss their idol related capability on their first meeting day, preferring to surprise the other during actual YG classes. Time flew between the girls as conversations flowed naturally. Even though Jennie would not normally consider herself as an approachable person, she was not immune to the ball of sunshine that was Lalisa Manoban, whose crackhead persona quickly melted away the older girl’s natural wall of defense.

  
When night came, the girls grabbed a quick dinner at the YG cafeteria then retreated back to their shared bedroom. Jennie also came to find out that Lili was not only clingy at the privacy of their room, but out in public as well. There were a couple times in between dinner bites that Jennie had to push Lili off of her to avoid spilling food on the both of them, eliciting chuckles from the other trainees nearby.

  
The girls agreed to call it in early as classes would start bright and early at 8 am the next day. Each now tucked in their respective beds, wishing each other good night and good luck to their idol journey ahead. Darkness overtook the room soon enough, accompanied by even breathing.

  
At the witching hour as Jennie’s alarm clock’s hour hand stroke three, an ominous mist began to form in Jennie’s dreamland, taking her back to a childhood memory that was buried deep in her psyche but never forgotten.

  
“Please ... Don’t hurt me ...” Jennie whimpered softly in her sleep, with eyes tightly shut. A sheen of sweat coated her body, soaking the brand-new bedsheets. In her dream, a miniature sized Jennie was running into an alley way, being chased by a group of masked men approaching with heavy footsteps. She knew these men were trying to get to her father through her. She could only keep running even though her lungs felt like they were already on fire.

  
A deep feminine voice whispered next to the older girl. “Jennie, wake up. You are safe now.” Strong arms enveloped Jennie’s shaken slender body, while a Thai lullaby was quietly hummed.

  
That feeling of unspoken fear was gradually replaced by soothing warmth as Jennie came to her senses. Feline eyes fluttered open to stare at smooth skin at the nook of a neck, as Jennie’s heartbeat slowed to a steady cadence. “Lili, is that you?” Jennie asked while rubbing her eyes.

  
The arms cradling Jennie stiffened slightly at the question. “Shhhhhh ... it’s okay now. Go back to sleep, my princess.” Jennie’s body was carefully lowered back onto the mattress. The soft hum of the Thai lullaby resumed as the other person took a seat on the floor, her hand smoothing out some of Jennie’s unruly tresses.

  
Feeling exhausted from the emotional roller coaster, it did not take long for sleep to reclaim Jennie. Before she lost consciousness, Jennie faintly heard a voice replying to her earlier question. “It’s Lisa ... actually ...”


	2. The one where Jennie officially met Lisa

The sound of Jennie’s alarm clock pierced through an otherwise peaceful morning, waking up both girls in the process.

  
Jennie stirred but refused to open her eyes, never a morning person to begin with. A few minutes later, Jennie could feel a shadow looming over her face, the scent of lilac filling her nostrils.

  
“What was it you said about naughty girls? Not getting out of bed on time and ditching classes would count as naughty, right?” Lili chuckled while hovering a few inches above Jennie, a playful glint in her eyes.

  
Jennie furrowed her eyebrows. _Oh no, you don’t._ She quickly pulled the blanket over her head, ignoring the younger girl’s question. “Go away, Lili! I’m not even ticklish, so don’t think that the same trick would work on me.”

  
“That’s not fair, Jennie-unnie!” Lili stomped her foot like a petulant child. “How could you not be ticklish? That’s like telling me Gamjatang is disgusting. Simply impossible.” ***Frustrated huff***

  
“Give me a break, Lili.” Jennie yawned under the cover. “I don’t think I slept too well last night.”

  
“Really? I wouldn’t know. I always sleep like a rock.” Lili started to do some light stretches as different ideas to get Jennie out of bed swarm around in her little head. A light bulb suddenly turned on. “Jennie-unnie, how heavy are you?”

  
Before Jennie could process the question, she felt her body lift up along with the blanket without notice. Jennie yelped in surprise as she got carried off the bed bridal style. “Put me down right now before I break your face, Lili! I swear I will!”

  
“You’re the one who is going to break your face if I drop you right now.” Lili shook her head as she walked towards the bathroom. “I’m better than Uber. Free of charge while bringing my customer safely to her destination.” Lili exclaimed in glee.

  
When Jennie’s feet finally touched the ground, she quickly turned around to give Lili a rough shove on the shoulder. “No tips for you.” Jennie stuck out her tongue while crinkling her nose. “The ride was bumpy and you sucked.”

  
Placing her hand on the heart, Lili acted as if she was offended. “I never got any complaints.” ***Fake sob*** “Could I please get a 5-star rating? Pretty please~” ***Puppy eyes attack***

  
Jennie put up an annoyed face, but secretly she was finding Lili too adorable for her liking. “Enough. Let’s just get ready and make sure Sajangnim doesn’t grill our tardy asses on our first day.”

* * *

“Move over, newbies!” Jennie was knocked back a few steps as trainees rushed into the choir room, ready for their voice lesson. Normally Jennie would be all ready to rip that random girl a new one, but she was really trying not to make a scene and leave a bad first impression on the voice coach YooMi, thus Jennie settled with an icy glare instead. 

“Hey, you watch where you are going.” Lili voiced up when she saw Jennie stay silent, annoyance clearly written on her doll-liked face.

The girl looked over at Lil head-to-toe with a mean sneer. “Are you in the wrong place, little boy? It’s girls only here, you pervert.”

_Okay, that’s it._ Jennie did a classic cop move by bending back the girl’s arm at an awkward angle. “Apologize to her, bitch, or lose an arm.” 

“GIRLS! Break it up! What’s going on here?” Coach YooMi approached the ruckus with a frown on her face.

_So much for keeping a low profile…_ Jennie quickly let go and tried her best to muster up a harmless gummy smile. “Everything is fine, coach. She just needs help doing some stretches.”

“The only thing you girls should be stretching is your vocal cord.” Coach YooMi said coolly. “What’s your name? You must be one of the new ones.”

“It’s Jennie Kim, coach.” Jennie politely took a bow.

Recognition flashed through Coach YooMi’s eyes. “Try not to stir trouble too much, Jennie. I don’t like playing favorites.” She commented cryptically.

Jennie just shrugged, already used to authority figures behaving that way around her all her life, like she was something to be heavily protected, probably linked to her father’s influence higher up.

The random girl was taken aback by how easy Jennie got away from her little stunt. “But coach …”

“Drop it, Ju. I find it hard to believe that you are completely innocent here.” Coach YooMi clapped her hands a couple times to catch everyone’s attention. “Single file towards the back of the room, please. Let’s start with some basic warm-ups.”

Jennie reached out to take Lili’s hand and dragged the still stunned younger girl to the side of the room. Lili had been staring at Jennie in awe from the moment Jennie laid her hands on Ju, wondering if her unnie could be any hotter.

“Thank you for defending me, Jennie-unnie.” Lili smiled sweetly at the older girl.

Jennie turned her head away from Lili with a faint blush. “That bitch asked for it. Plus I’m probably PMS-ing. Not everything is about you.” She never felt comfortable receiving compliments, let alone those coming from the specific ball of sunshine that has quickly taken up residence in her heart in a matter of two days. To be frank, Jennie was also surprised by the surge of anger that overwhelmed her in a split second when Ju verbally attacked Lili. Normally she would be able to keep her emotions in check.

“Whatever you say.” Lili’s Cheshire grin remained on her face for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

The day eventually came to an end with the girls surviving their first day of vocal lesson, which covered a wide range of singing style from ballads to rap. The girls did not get to show off their individual talents as the first lesson was more lecture-based, with Coach YooMi demonstrating different techniques most of the time. They once again came to an agreement to have an early night as the dance lesson the next day probably would require a lot more of their energy. They quickly said their good night and retreated to the respective corners of their room.

It was 3 am in the morning when Jennie awoke with sweat down her back. _That stupid dream again …_ She looked over at Lili’s bed and was surprised to find it empty. _Where did she run off to now?_ Determined to question the girl as soon as she returned to their shared bedroom, Jennie began to sing pop songs in her head to keep herself entertained enough to avoid falling asleep.

Around 30 minutes later, the bedroom door slowly creaked open, revealing a shadow whose body shape Jennie knew well. Jennie quickly turned on the flashlight on her smartphone and shined the light in the other person’s face. “Care to explain what you’re up to at this ungodly hour?”

The taller girl stopped in her track, looking over at Jennie with steady eyes. “Don’t worry. It’s just me.”

Jennie blinked twice. “Who are you?” She was not sure what prompted her to say that. Even though the girl in front of her had all the same features as the ball of sunshine currently residing in her heart, down to the mole peeking out on her collarbone, if Jennie had to pinpoint what was off, it would be the invisible aura emanating from the lithe body. Perhaps it was all those self-defense classes that had sharpened Jennie’s sixth sense. If people were colors, Lili would be bright yellow, whereas the girl in front of was a dark shade of blue, the palette so dark that it reminded Jennie of a bottomless ocean, mysterious but all encompassing.

  
“You can tell us apart?” Surprise evident in the big doe eyes.

Jennie knew that she should be afraid, but for some reason, innately she could tell that this intimate stranger meant her no harm. “What happened to Lili?”

“She is sleeping. Don’t worry. She will come back to you safe and sound first thing in the morning.” The smooth voice calmly explained.

“Oh … “ Knowing that Lili was safe was enough to lighten Jennie’s previously heavy heart. “You still haven’t answered my first question.” 

“Your father sent me to look after you. You can call me Lisa.”

Knowing that her missing father was involved kind of annoyed Jennie, but she kept her cool with Lisa, knowing that the young girl was not at fault. “I guess it’s not a coincidence that we are roommates then … Does Lili know about you?”

Lisa shook her head with a sad smile. “Lili and I share the same body, but Lili is the dominant personality that is active during the day. I function more in the shadows when Lili loses consciousness or becomes too overwhelmed.”

“What’s the connection between you and my father anyways?” An absurd thought suddenly crossed Jennie’s mind. “Ewww … We are not some long lost half-sisters, right?”

A crack appeared in Lisa’s stoic façade. It started with small trembles of the shoulders, then Lisa could not help but start to dry-heaving and laughing at the same time. “Oh my god, I can see why you and Lili are a match made in heaven. You guys are both insane.” Lisa had to wipe away some of the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes. “I swear on my parents’ graves that we are 100% not related.”

It was at that moment that Jennie realized she had never asked Lili in detail about her family in Thailand. She had just assumed that someone with Lili’s sunshine personality must have grown up in a happy family where the parents were alive and well. “What happened to your parents?”

Lisa sighed. “Sometimes bad things just happen to good people, I guess.”

“And yet bad people like my father get to walk …” Jennie commented darkly.

“Jennie, your father is not a bad person. Even though many would question his line of work, but he is a man of honor. Actually, I owe him my life …” Lisa walked towards the window to stare off into the night sky, recalling those traumatic events that were imprinted on her soul for the rest of her life.

Jennie reached out to cover Lisa’s hand on the window sill, offering support in silence. 

“My parents ran a small food stall off the street of Bangkok, and to me, my daddy was the best cook in the world. We came from a humble background, but we were happy.” Lisa continued with a nostalgic smile. “Even with the little money that my parents made, they would always let me participate in any dance competitions I wanted, no matter how high the entry fees. It was the best feeling in the world when I would go home with trophies in my hands, and my parents would greet me with all my favorite dishes. After dinner, I would give them a repeat of my winning performance, since they could never attend the actual competitions because of work.”

“They sounded wonderful.” Jennie whispered wistfully, wondering if she could recall the last time she had spent some quality time with her own father.

“They were the best.” Lisa closed her eyes, trying hard to remember the details of their kind faces. It broke her heart that their images were getting blurrier as days went by. “One day, I was out dancing and competing after school as usual. The trophy I won that day was the biggest that I have ever received, and I had a hard time carrying it home. I was waiting at a traffic light across from my parents’ food stall when someone bumped into me and knocked my trophy out of my hands … God, I was so stupid …” Lisa’s knuckles turned white as she dropped her head to stare down at her fists, remembering the event as if it was yesterday.

“Lisa, it’s okay. You don’t have to say anything more.” Jennie hugged the taller girl from behind. “Whatever happened, it wasn’t your fault.”

“But it was …” A lone tear slid down the Thai girl’s cheek. “Of course I had to chase after my trophy without noticing the incoming truck. Your father happened to be nearby and tried to pull me back onto the sidewalk. The driver saw us and swerved the truck to the side. The truck ended up crashing into my parents’ food stall instead.”

“Lisa, I’m so sorry.” Jennie tightened her hold on Lisa, trying to remind the younger girl that they were here in Korea now, and that was all that mattered. 

“All that blood was too much for Lili to handle. So I emerged to help.” Lisa gave the arms around her waist a quick squeeze. “Your father took pity on me when he found out what happened, and gave me a place to stay. I’ve been indebted to him ever since.”

“Give it up for my father to engage in child labor in Thailand.” Jennie commented dryly. “You know he’s just taking advantage of you, right?” 

“You don’t understand,” Lisa remarked ruefully. “My fate would most likely be worse off if I had entered the foster care system. Your father had noticed the split of Lili and I right away. He also knew that whatever he told me at night, Lili wouldn’t remember in the morning, while I retained Lili’s memories completely. He thought these elements would come in handy one day.”

“Handy how?” Jennie furrowed her brows.

“He taught me Korean during the day and martial arts at night. With my dance background, he thought I would be the perfect undercover bodyguard for you if you choose to pursue your dreams in the entertainment industry.” 

“I guess he does remember all the singing and twirling around I used to do in our living room when I was small.” Jennie rolled her eyes at the memory of her father clapping encouragingly after each of her impromptu performances.

“Your father loves you in his own way. He used to tell me stories of you two in between my training breaks. I felt like I already knew you before I even met you.” Lisa turned around to look straight into Jennie’s eyes.

“So now you’ve got the real deal in front of you. Are you disappointed? Do you want your money back?” Jennie joked to lighten the mood after the intense conversation they shared.

“I’m worried …” 

“About …?” 

“That I didn’t set my expectations high enough.” A sad smile returned to Lisa’s face.


	3. The one where Jennie was mesmerized by both Lili and Lisa

Jennie liked talking to Lisa, even though she could tell that Lisa preferred to be a woman of few words. Replaying the previous night in her mind, she could not believe she let Lisa talk her into going back to bed so soon. _Damn my energy level at 4 in the morning …_

Unlike the previous day, Jennie decided to get out of bed swiftly as soon as the alarm clock went off, wanting to check if Lili was really back to normal. Jennie looked over at Lili’s bed and found the younger girl stretching out her arms with her eyes closed. “Good morning, Lili.” 

  
“Morning, Jennie-unnie.” Lili opened her eyes and gazed curiously at Jennie, who already sat up with her feet on the ground. “Well, this is a surprise. With what I saw yesterday, I thought I would have to turn into Hercules again to get you out of bed.”

  
“So that you could grope me in the process? No, thanks. I’m not that easy.” _So far so good. Her bright yellow aura is back at full force at least._

  
“Unnieeeee, why do you have to make me sound like a pervert?” Lili sulked.

  
“Because you probably are.” Jennie said with a deadpan expression. “Now get up and get ready for our dance class.”

  
“Aye, aye, Captain Jennie.” Lili sat up and gave the older girl a salute. “We will meet at the door at zero seven three zero sharp.”

  
“Of all the trainees, how did I draw the crazy roommate?” Jennie commented with fake annoyance. _Oh yea, my father ..._

  
“One day you will fall in love with me.” Lili replied cheekily. “Just you wait and see.” Lili ran to the bathroom then closed the door behind her at lightning speed, blocking the incoming pillow projectile aimed at her head.

* * *

Jennie and Lili arrived at the dance classroom and saw many trainees gossip fervently about what happened over night. When news broke that Ju’s bedroom door was defaced with curse words, Jennie had an inkling about the culprit responsible for the act of revenge. I guess Lisa was not only looking out for me, but for Lili too. Jennie chuckled to herself.

  
“Quiet down, girls. Less talking and more dancing! Who in the class knows the steps of Be My Baby by Wonder Girls?” The dance coach Kim HeeJung looked around the room, where most trainees suddenly found the floor very interesting, avoiding direct eye contact.

  
Jennie knew the song of course, but would not be confident enough to say she knew all the steps. Half expecting the entire class to stay silent, she was surprised when she felt an arm raised up next to her.

  
“I’m Lalisa. I think I can do it, coach.” Lili spoke up when she saw that nobody was stepping forward. “I hope it’s okay if I improvise a few steps along the way. Some of the parts are a bit fuzzy in my mind.”

  
“It’s the first day of class. No pressure even if you make a fool of yourself.” Coach HeeJung smiled warmly at the brave girl before pressing play on her Spotify playlist. “Now show me what you got.” 

  
From the way Lili normally carried herself, Jennie could already guess that the girl had got moves. But seeing her in action, completely in her element, was a mind-blowing experience. Every pop was executed with precision. Lili’s facial expressions were also on point to make the whole presentation that much more impactful. Jennie never thought of herself as a bad dancer, but comparing herself to Lili had left a dent in her ego.  
  
When Lili finished the demo, striking a final pose while flashing a dashing smile at Jennie, thunderous applause followed. Even older trainees like Ju had hollered and whistled at the younger girl’s flawless performance. 

  
Coach HeeJung stepped forward to congratulate Lili with a loving pat on the shoulder. “You are really something, Lalisa. I can’t wait to see you debut in the future.”

  
“Thanks, coach.” Lili replied meekly. “There are still lots to learn from you.”

  
Coach HeeJung looked at the Thai girl with pride, pleased with her humbleness. “Girls, I would suggest you to take some time to get to know Lalisa if you ever need help with dance when I’m not around. This girl is going places for sure.”

  
Lili walked over to Jennie with a bounce in her steps. “You liked what you saw?” 

  
“Show off.” Jennie quipped in jest. “You gotta teach me how you did that body roll when we are back in our room.”

  
“Oh I can teach you way more than that.” Lili wiggled her eyebrow suggestively.

  
 ***SMACK*** Jennie whacked Lili on the head with her towel. “Don’t get too cocky now.”

  
“Girls, everything alright?” Coach HeeJung thought she heard a yelp.

  
“Peachy. I just handed Lalisa a towel to wipe away the sweat, seeing how hard she just danced.” Jennie replied with her signature gummy smile.

  
“You are such a good friend. How sweet~” 

  
When Coach HeeJung turned around, Jennie stuck out her tongue at Lili, who was still a bit disoriented by the sneak attack.

  
“You are lucky that I love you ...” Lili surprised even herself when the L word roll off her tongue so easily. “... as a friend of course.” She added in a hurry.

  
Jennie rolled her eyes at Lili’s word fumble. Her heart felt stung by the last few words. “Well duh. Who would want to date a crackhead like you?”

  
“Hey, I would have you know that I was super popular back in Thailand. Guys and girls lining up the streets of Bangkok, wanting to score a date with me.” Lili retorted with a pout. 

  
“I guess that’s why your pick-up lines are so bad. You didn’t have to practice them in Thailand if bodies were just throwing themselves at you.” Jennie cackled.

  
“Jennie-unnie!!!” Lili grabbed Jennie’s arm and swung it back and forth. “Could you please direct your vicious words at someone else? I think my ego had taken enough of a beating for the day already.”

  
“Already? Your skin needs to grow much thicker if you want to survive this industry.” Jennie squinted her eyes while giving Lili a small flick on the forehead. “Besides, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

* * *

The rest of the day went by in the blink of an eye. Lili saw herself being elevated to the role of a teacher assistant half the time, helping other trainees to learn different dance moves. Jennie found herself stealing quick glances at Lili whenever the younger girl was not looking in her direction, feeling magnetized by Lili’s high energy.

  
After dinner at the YG cafeteria, the girls once again retreated back to their room. Jennie could not help but wonder if she would be speaking with Lisa again tonight. _How the hell do I go about calling out Lisa? If I kick Lili off the bed, won’t she just regain consciousness and be Lili again?_

  
While Jennie was deep in thought, she did not notice Lili inching closer to her face from the side, giving her a light peck on the cheek. “Think any harder and your eyebrows will turn into an unibrow.” Lili deftly dodged a flying elbow when Jennie shook out of her stupor.

  
“Before I get an unibrow, I’ll make sure I shave off your actual eyebrows in your sleep first.” Jennie gave Lili another one of her infamous eye roll.

  
“You wouldn’t have the heart to harm this cute face.” Lili started busting out her aegyo to break down Jennie’s defense. “Jennie-unnie, don’t be a meanie~” ***Watery eyes attack***  
  
Jennie shut her eyes tightly to strengthen her defence. “I see no evil. La la la~”

  
Seeing the older girl had her eyes closed, Lili took the opportunity to pick up Jennie from behind. “Ah ha, the maiden has fallen. Now back to the treasure island.” Lili started to back up towards her own bed, dragging Jennie along to fall back on soft mattress when she felt her calves hit the side of the bed.

  
It was hard for Jennie to stay focused when she could feel Lili press up against her from behind, her typical auto-defense vicious lashing felt stuck in her throat. _Why must Lili wear a flimsy bralette that could hardly stop the two hard nubs from digging into my back???_

  
“Earth to Jennie.” Lili was surprised by the lack of response from the girl in her arms. She had thought Jennie would throw a fit at their physical interaction by now. “Request to plant another kiss on the cheek.”

  
The K word did the trick, and Jennie came to her senses, shrugging off Lili’s back hug. “What is in that mind of yours?”

  
“Loads of sappy K-drama in my quest to master the almighty Korean language.” Lili said in her best imitation of a seductress.

  
Jennie gave the younger girl a hard flick on the forehead. “I wonder if I could physically knock out those questionable thoughts in your head.”

  
“Owwwww ... unnie ...” Lili placed her hands on her throbbing forehead. “You made my bangs cry.” Lili pouted.

  
“Stop fooling around. Time for bed.” Jennie removed herself from the chaotic crackhead to walk back to her side of the room. Even though her words had seemed cold, Jennie was feeling anything but, her heart swelled up warmly at Lili’s adorable antics.  
  
“Sweet dreams, Jennie-unnie.” A melodic voice called out from under the cover. “Maybe you can dream about my sexy body roll.”

  
“Sure, maybe I will be a sexy farmer in my dream and roll over your body with a tractor.” Jennie replied sarcastically, now snugly tucked in her own bed.

  
“You are no fun, you big meanie.” Lili yawned while mumbling the words out, a final attempt to get in the last word, falling asleep with a peaceful grin.

* * *

Jennie’s biological clock felt the hour hand touch 3 am, bringing her consciousness back to the surface. Her first coherent thought was regarding Lisa, the mysterious girl that had also taken residence in her heart, side by side the always bubbly Lili.

  
“Lisa, can you hear me?” Jennie whispered into the dark, trying not to wake up Lili.

  
“Is everything alright, Jennie?” A smooth voice responded immediately. “Do you need help with anything?”

  
“Do I have to keep whispering or can we hold a normal conversation without waking up Lili?” Jennie wanted to double check before she did anything drastic.

  
A tall shadow started to get closer to Jennie’s bed, and soon Jennie felt a dip on the mattress next to her calves. “What do you want to talk about, Jennie?”

  
Jennie sat up to hug her knees while staring curiously at Lisa’s silhouette. “There’s so much I want to know. Like what do you think of Lili? Has she always been a crackhead? Or what happens to you during the day when Lili is what you would call the dominant personality? Does your spirit hover around us like a guardian angel or something?”

  
Lisa brushed a strand of hair from Jennie’s face in adoration. “I will try my best to answer your rapid-fire questions one-by-one, my princess.”

  
“And why do you keep calling me princess? Most people just call me a bitch when they can’t handle the truth that comes out of my mouth.” Jennie put up a tough exterior most of the time, but sometimes she did feel lonely or misunderstood, hoping that someone could really see her without the façade. Lisa’s calming stare had so far done so effortlessly, and it amazed Jennie that this perfect stranger could so easily speak directly to her heart.

  
“A princess is what you are to me, as you are also to your father. In a way, I was taught to love and cherish you as part of my training with him.” Lisa spoke with a tone of reverence.

  
“You made it sound like my father forced you to join a Jennie cult.” Jennie responded with a frown. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to like me.”

  
“Maybe that’s why your father has decided to keep Lili in the dark about my mission to protect you. I guarantee you that how Lili feels about you right now is genuinely coming from herself.” Lisa mumbled sadly to herself, “Unlike my own feelings ...”

  
Jennie could not hear Lisa clearly towards the end, but she felt that the right thing to do would be to lean forward to give the taller girl a firm hug. “I also like you, Lisa.”

  
“Thank you for saying that, my princess.” Lisa backed out of the hug delicately. She knew she should not stare into Jennie’s clear brown orbs at such close proximity, but her body seemed to take on a mind of its own, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

  
Jennie thought that if Lili naturally smelled of lilacs, as if summer personified, then she would describe Lisa’s scent as a woody musk, a fragile balance of elegance and raw animalistic desire. Jennie’s pupils dilated at the sudden surge in hormones as she got lost in Lisa’s intense stare.

  
“Forgive me, Jennie.” _For the sin I am about to commit._ Lisa eliminated the distance between their lips, giving up trying to fight the magnetic pull. _This must be what heaven tastes like ..._


	4. The one where Jennie almost got a girlfriend

Jennie and Lisa pulled apart when they finally both ran out of air, their cheeks reddened for different reasons. Jennie’s vision was still a bit out of focus, as she wallowed in the surreal feeling of her first kiss. For Lisa, it was a mixture of unimaginable bliss and restless guilt. For so many nights, Lisa had dreamt of being near the girl that she felt destined to protect. In her head, Jennie had been a figure placed on a pedestal. When she could not help herself but kiss Jennie, Lisa had felt like she committed a blasphemous act.

“Why did you kiss me?” Jennie asked in a daze, unaware of Lisa’s inner turmoil.

It took Lisa a few seconds to gather her thoughts to come up with an answer that hid her true feelings. “Just doing something Lili didn’t have the guts to do. She is worried that making a move would ruin your friendship. You should know by now that she talks a big game, but deep down she’s quite insecure. She cares a lot about you, you know?”

“And you are not worried that you just ruined our friendship for her?” Jennie cocked her head, not buying what Lisa was telling her.

Lisa could not look Jennie straight in the eyes any longer. “I was hoping you would like my kiss enough to give Lili a chance even if you haven’t thought about her that way before.” 

A pause. “If you were to kiss me again, would you be doing it for Lili or for yourself?” 

Lisa squeezed her eyes shut. The thought of being able to kiss Jennie again was feeling like the ultimate temptation. Before she opened her eyes, she felt soft hands on her cheeks and Jennie’s warm breadth caressing her face. _I am definitely going to hell for this …_

Jennie’s question was answered by plump lips pressed desperately against her own. Both of them just wanted to savor this fleeting moment of passion.

Suddenly, Jennie blacked out.

* * *

“Wake up, sleepy head!” 

Jennie felt like a boat being rocked back and forth by harsh waves. Bits and pieces of what happened last night slowly coming back to her. One moment her lips were on Lisa’s, and the next thing she knew it was already morning time.

“I can’t believe you slept through the alarm clock. I thought I was the only who would sleep like a log sometimes.” Lili whined while continuing to push on Jennie’s shoulders.

“I’m up! I’m up!” Jennie shook her head to get rid of the left-over wooziness. _Why do I feel so feel weird this morning?_ _Lisa’s got some explaining to do …_ Jennie suddenly took notice of what Lili was wearing. “Why aren’t you in your normal clothes?”

“Didn’t you look at our class schedule, silly? It’s Taekwondo day! I’m so excited! I’ve never tried anything martial arts related before.” 

Jennie watched Lili jump up and down like an energizer bunny, doing some air judo chops while making absurd sound effects. _She is acting like a five-year-old, and it’s so cute that I can’t tear my eyes away. Maybe there’s something wrong with me …_

* * *

The girls arrived at the YG “dojang” in full Taekwondo gear. When they looked around, they saw trainees with different color belts, indicating a diverse level of expertise. As Jennie had dabbled in different types of martial arts due to her unique family background, she was already a blue belt on the first day of class whereas Lili was a white belt. Their Taekwondo instructor Yang had paired off girls based on their experience level, and Jennie was separated from Lili for the first time during lessons.

“Well, look who do we have here?” A grating voice caused Jennie to come face-to-face with Ju, who was also sporting a blue belt. “You caught me by surprise last time, but don’t think you are that lucky all the time.”

“Look, Ju. I’m not here to start anything. Just be cool and stay out of my way.”

“Easy for you when you’re the teacher’s pet. I’d watch my back if I were you.” 

Lili could not hear the exchange between Ju and Jennie, but their body language was enough to set her innards in a twist. With a concerned look, she tried to nudge her white-belt partner closer to the duo inconspicuously.

“Girls, go ahead and do some stretches. I see that some of you already have blue belts, so let’s have quick sparring matches to give a demonstration to the more inexperienced trainees.” For his own amusement, Instructor Yang was eager to find out who was the best fighter in the crowd.

On one hand, Lili was curious to see Jennie spar with someone, since judging from what she did to Ju the other day, Jennie knew how to handle herself. But she was also worried Jennie would get hurt somehow in the process, because who knew what Ju was capable of doing if she wanted to play dirty. Lili quickly said a silent prayer to whoever was listening. _Please deliver Jennie out of harm’s way …_

A few moments later, Instructor Yang had called out Jennie and Ju to spar, while the rest of the trainees stood back in a ring format, circling the girls. Lili did not forget to give Jennie a quick thumbs up, which was rewarded with a subtle wink from the older girl. Soon, all eyes were on the two trainees that took their respective places.

After each taking a bow, Jennie and Ju started bouncing on their feet while sizing up each other. Ju was the one who the made the first move - her annoyance towards Jennie prompting her to put all her strength into her kick.

Amateurs might be intimidated by Ju’s brute force, but Jennie had had experience dealing with people bigger and stronger than her all her life. Taking a quick side step to redirect Ju’s momentum, Jennie blocked the front kick with ease. “Is that all you got?” She grabbed Ju’s attacking right leg and pulled her down onto the sparing mat, followed by a quick jab that stopped mid-air, just a hair above Ju’s torso.

Lili inadvertently let out a quick cheer at Jennie’s maneuver. Her adoration for the older girl now elevated to a new level. 

“It’s not my style to hit someone while they’re down.” Jennie dusted off her knees then turned around to go get a drink of water from a water fountain at the back wall.

“That was a nice move, Jennie.” Instructor Yang gave Jennie a quick pat of encouragement when she walked past him. “Alright, who’s next?”

As the other trainees’ attention was already focused on the next sparring match, no one except Lili saw Ju getting up from the mat to follow Jennie to the back wall. Perhaps it was the cloudy look in Ju’s eyes that put Lili on high alert. Lili had decided to walk towards Jennie as well, now at equal distance compared to Jennie and the fuming girl.

Just when Jennie had bent down to get a drink of water, she heard a bone crack above the back of her head. Surprised, she quickly turned around just to see Ju cradling her right hand while Lili looked at her own hands in shock.

“You broke my hand, you bitch!” Ju screamed at Lili in pain. 

Everyone turned to check out the commotion by the water fountain. “What’s going on?” Instructor Yang jogged over to the three girls. 

“I … don’t know …” Lili replied in confusion. _One second I thought I saw Ju coming at Jennie, then …_

“Instructor Yang, it was … “ Ju’s sentence was cut short by a searing pain on her foot, caused by Jennie suddenly stomping on it.

“Oops, sorry. Didn’t see you right there.” _Sorry, not sorry._ “Instructor Yang, it was me. It was an accident. I am sorry.” 

“Well, as long as you apologized.” Instructor Yang was happy to see that the issue was resolved. He had been briefed by other staff about Jennie’s background, so whenever given the opportunity, he would gladly turn a blind eye.

“Are you okay, Lili? You seem to be in shock.” Jennie patted Lili on the head with a kind smile, but in her mind, she could not help but wonder if Lisa had come out to save the day.

Seeing Jennie safe and sound was enough for Lili to let go of whatever confusion she felt. “I’m all good now. You gotta teach me some of your killer moves some time!”

“Sure, and you still owe me that body roll lesson too.” Jennie giggled fondly at Lili.

* * *

Later that night, Jennie had called out from her bed to Lisa again to ask her about what happened at the “dojang” earlier. “Are you sure Lili doesn’t know about you? Because I think she did something that she shouldn’t know how to do.” Jennie then proceeded to recount the events for Lisa’s benefit.

Lisa’s silky voice rang clearly from her bed. “Lili mentally blocks me out because of what happened to our parents, but our body has already learnt how to fight from the training with your father. Our body and soul are taught to put your safety in the highest regard. I’m honestly not surprised to hear that Lili subconsciously protected you.”

“Does that mean you two are brainwashed to jump in front of a moving truck to protect me? In theory that is ..” Jennie cringed at the morbid thought.

“I’m sure both Lili and I would have jumped in front of the moving truck if that’s the case. We would gladly die for you.” Lisa said it matter-of-factly, just like if someone was discussing the weather.

Jennie jumped out of bed to make her point clear by grabbing onto Lisa’s head in her palms while staring into her eyes in a serious manner. “Neither of you are allowed to die before me, are we clear?” 

“I can’t make promises, but I will try.” Lisa replied with an affectionate look. “I would miss you too much to leave our world so soon. Also, Lili is dying to debut with you …”

“Okay, we need to stop with the D word. Changing the topic now …” Jennie let go of Lisa’s head, and sat down on Lisa’s bed. “Why did I pass out last night while we were kissing?”

“I knocked you out using some pressure point technique. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to handle what was happening between us …”

“If I lost any brain cells, I’m holding you accountable.” Jennie squinted her eyes at Lisa with a pout.

“Hurting you would be the last thing I wanted to do.” Lisa sat up to explain herself, putting her arms around Jennie’s waist.

“Well, I do know one way you could make up for it …” Jennie bit her lips, as her vision steered towards Lisa’s inviting lips.

Lisa sighed. “Jennie, it doesn’t feel right for me to kiss you right now.”

“Why? You don’t like me?” Jennie asked quizzically. “I would have been fooled with the way you kissed me last night.”

“I feel bad that Lili likes you so much, and she hasn’t even had a chance to kiss you yet. I also doubt that she’ll be making the first move any time soon, knowing her.”

“Wow, you are a really good alter-ego.” Jennie mused. “Lili is lucky to have you as a wing-woman.” She squeezed Lisa on the cheek in a joking manner.

“So would you take Lili as your girlfriend?” 

“It’s funny how you are not asking me to be your girlfriend yourself.” Jennie shook her head, wishing deep down that Lisa would declare her own feelings honestly for once.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Kiss me again, and I’ll think about it.” Jennie smirked, challenging Lisa.

Lisa finally gave in to the one thing that she had wanted to do the whole night. _For Lili’s sake …_


	5. The one where Jennie and Lisa got a safe word

_I BLACKED OUT AGAIN?!?!_ Jennie knocked down her screeching alarm clock with a flick of her arm. 

“Hey roomie.” Lili got up slowly from her bed, rubbing her eyes. “Still PMS-ing?” 

A pillow flew across the room and hit Lili on the face, causing the younger girl to squeal.

“Shush, I’m annoyed with the both of you this morning.” Jennie also sat up and started massaging her temples in gentle circles.

“Both of me? Did I grow an extra head over night?” Lili scratched her head.

_Fuck me …_ “I meant you and … “ Jennie started darting her eyes around their room, finally landing on the alarm clock on the floor. “That stupid alarm! Disturbing my beauty sleep is a cardinal sin.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Lili flashed the older girl her most charming smile. “Jennie-unnie is naturally beautiful and sexy … even with messy bed hair.”

Jennie blushed at Lili’s compliment, but she was not about to let Lili get the upper hand of their banter. “That last part was totally unnecessary. You suck at being a flirt.” She ruffled her curls to get some of the knots out. 

“Here, let me help.” Lili walked over to Jennie’s bed and climbed on her lap. Shifting her body weight to her thighs that are on either side of Jennie’s body, Lili positioned herself to look down at Jennie’s hair from above.

_Is she doing this on purpose?_ Jennie was intoxicated by Lili’s sudden proximity, drunk on the scent of lilac, while she literally came eye-to-eye with Lili’s perky breasts barely concealed by the thin fabric of her bunny tank top, free from the constraint of a bralette.

Meanwhile Lili was oblivious to the effect she had on Jennie, her mind focused on the task at hand. “Want me to give you a head and neck massage too? It’s a Thai specialty actually.” Lili chuckled while her hands got to work to get out the kinks.

Jennie’s eyes rolled back involuntarily. “God, Lili. That feels so good.” 

“I aim to please.” Came Lili’s cheeky reply. “You know there are a lot more places on your body that I could massage if there is ever a need.”

Jennie had to bite down on her lips to stop a moan from coming out. _Sober up, Jennie. Lili’s mind probably didn’t even go there._ “I’ll let you know next time I get run over by a truck and pull a leg muscle.”

The hands tangled on Jennie’s lush tresses stopped moving abruptly. “Don’t joke about that … Please …” 

Jennie winced as she picked up on the small quiver in Lili’s voice. _My big mouth just couldn’t give it a rest today._ “Hey …” Jennie took hold of Lili’s hands and motioned for her to sit down. “I’m not going anywhere. You hear me?”

“You promise? Pinky swear?” Lili stuck out her pinky in the air, looking hopefully over at Jennie.

“Pinky swear.” To show her sincerity, Jennie bent down to blow a soft kiss on their entwined fingers. “Now let’s go get ready for our vocal class. Who knows? I might feel like slipping in a little serenade for a special girl.”

Lili’s ears perked up. “That’s me, right?”

“We’ll see.” Jennie gave Lili a teasing boop on the nose.

“Unnie~” Lili cried after Jennie’s retreating figure to their bathroom.

* * *

“Girls, for today’s lesson, I will be assessing your individual singing ability. Last time I have asked each of you to prepare a song to perform. When I call your name, please step forward.” Coach YooMi looked down at her roll call sheet. “First up, Lalisa Manoban.”

Lili visibly stiffened for being called out first. To be honest, Lili would not consider herself a shy person, but she definitely felt more at ease dancing rather than singing. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand rubbing small circles at her lower back.

“Go get ‘em, Tiger. You got this.” Jennie gave Lili an encouraging smile. Even though she has never heard Lili sing in a professional manner, she figured if she had combined the voice range of Lili and Lisa, it was would mean Lili could potentially hit more notes than an average person.

“Yea, why don’t you indulge us with some kiddie songs? Since you talk like a baby anyways.” Ju snickered along with a couple other senior trainees, still bitter about her hand that was now bandaged.

Jennie’s retort to Ju came quick. “And I can’t wait to hear you shriek like a banshee, since you were so good at it when you broke your hand in the Taekwondo class.” Jennie ignored Ju’s glare and turned to Lili. “Don’t worry. I got you.” Jennie winked at Lili before sending her off to the front of the class.

_Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve Jennie-unnie …_ “Coach YooMi, I’d like to perform In The End by Linkin Park.”

Jennie could not tear her eyes away. _Who is this in front of me?_

Not only Jennie, but everyone in class had simultaneously experienced a jaw dropping moment when Lili’s swagger came out as she rapped.

The song eventually came to an end, and Lili’s semi-labored breathing was accompanied by a deafening silence from the crowd. “Uhm … thank you?” Lili mumbled in her usual high-pitched voice.

It was Jennie who recovered from the shocking performance first, and immediately started clapping her hands like a mad woman. _That’s my girl!_

“That was incredible, Lalisa! Next time I would challenge you to pick a song with a wider vocal range. But great job, nevertheless!” Coach YooMi also joined the clap, and others soon followed. “Next up is Jennie Kim.”

Jennie walked confidently to the front of the class, giving Lili a high-five as the two girls crossed path. “Coach, I’ll be performing Sure Thing by Miguel.”

“Great, take it away.” Coach YooMi hoped that Jennie was actually a decent singer, since it would go against her pride as a vocal instructor to give her an automatic A.

As the music started to play, Jennie’s eyes locked on her special someone like magnets.

Lili felt like she was melting under Jennie’s heated gaze, as Jennie’s hypnotic voice belted out the verse like she owned the song. In a performance setting, Jennie’s voice was dark and husky, bringing a level of intimacy to the lyrics filled with analogies of two people in love. When the song got to the rap part, Lili could not help but imagine herself rapping alongside Jennie on stage one day, spitting out bars for days. Putting her personal feelings aside, Lili had been thoroughly impressed by Jennie’s singing ability. _Jennie-unnie never ceases to amaze me …_

“… Respect you like a lover … Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh …” Jennie’s voice faded out as the song came to an end, but her eyes never left Lili’s. 

At the thought of Jennie openly singing a love song to her, Lili’s lips curled upwards. _Can I hope that Jennie-unnie feels the same way I do?_

“That was great, too, Jennie!” Coach YooMi exclaimed. “For the rest of you, unfortunately you girls got some tough acts to follow.”

Jennie walked towards Lili and led her to the back of the classroom, pretending to get a drink of water. When no one was watching, she draped an arm around Lili’s shoulders, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “In case you were still wondering …”

The two girls stared into each other’s eyes with a knowing smile.

* * *

Before going to bed, Jennie had set her phone to vibrate under her pillow at precisely 3 am, planning to give Lisa an earful. _Damn pressure points ..._

  
To Jennie’s surprise, instead of being woken up by her phone, for the first time, Lisa had come over to her bed to wake her up.

“I assume your phone is going off because you want to talk to me at this hour.”

Feeling embarrassed that her plan to reprimand Lisa was thrown off because she slept through the vibrating alarm, Jennie went to give Lisa a hard flick on her forehead. “It’s all your fault.” 

But before the blow landed, Lisa had already caught Jennie’s wrist in mid-air.

“Sorry, reflex ...” Lisa closed her eyes and let her arms fall limply at her sides, awaiting her punishment patiently. “You can try again now.”

  
Jennie did not know whether to laugh or cry at the sight in front of her, with Lisa acting so obedient to satisfy her whimsical needs. _I bet if I ask Lisa nicely if I could deflower her, she would probably let me_... “It’s so frustrating that I can’t stay mad at you.” Jennie settled with pressing Lisa’s cheeks together, making her look like a blowfish.

“Why … were … you … mad?” Words slowly tumbled out of Lisa at her current state.

  
To see the normally composed Lisa like this was enough to dissipate any residual anger Jennie had felt towards the other girl. Jennie gave Lisa’s cheeks a quick pinch before letting go completely. “We need a safe word.”

  
“Excuse me?”

  
“So that you don’t have to keep knocking me out to break up our make-out session. Next time if you want to stop, just say the safe word and I will back off.” Jennie pointed an accusing finger at Lisa. “I see through you.”

  
“Jennie-ya ...” Lisa wrapped an arm around Jennie’s shoulders to bring her closer. “I’m sorry. I’d admit when I’m nervous, I have a tendency to resort to methods I know best, and unfortunately that means a big tool box of assassination techniques.”

“And I have my father to thank for that.” Jennie hated that despite her father’s physical absence, she could still feel his sphere of influence, whether it be for school or her love life. 

“I promise I would never do that to you ever again.”

“Do what? Kiss me senseless?” Jennie replied with a provocative grin.

“No, make you pass out.” Lisa cleared her throat, rushing out the next few words. “And I’m sure Lili would be happy to give you all the kisses in the world.”

“What if you’re the better kisser?” Jennie replied with a frown.

Lisa chuckled quietly. “I seriously doubt that. Anything that I can do, Lili can also do, even if subconsciously.”

“Wait a minute.” Wheels started to turn in Jennie’s head. “So all those sexy dance moves Lili does during the day, you could execute them too?”

“In theory, yes …” Lisa was not liking where this conversation was going.

“Intriguing. I’ll keep that in mind. It’s good to know that if Lili faints on stage one day, there might be an unexpected back-up.” Jennie wiggled her brow at Lisa.

“Hey, weren’t we supposed to come up with a safe word?” Lisa was desperate to change the topic. She has always imagined herself moving in the shadows. Just the thought of performing on stage under the spotlight was gnawing at her nerves.

“How about … one person says Marco and the other needs to reply with Polo?”

Lisa nodded. “Okay, Marco.”

“Then I’d say Polo. See? Easy.”

“Great, good night.” Lisa got up and moved towards her bed.

“Wait!” Jennie’s frantic voice caused Lisa to look back. “That’s it?” _No kisses? No nothing?_

“Isn’t this what the safe word is for?” Lisa replied innocently before continuing towards her destination. _Lili is bound to wake up tired if I don’t rest soon._

Jennie was speechless. _Why do I feel like I just handed Lisa a get-out-of-jail-free card?_


	6. The one where Jennie got herself two girlfriends

For three days in a row, Lisa had used the safe word to prevent Jennie from getting physically too close to her. It annoyed Jennie tremendously that she felt like a junkie, already addicted to Lisa’s kisses but unable to get her daily fix. 

Jennie and Lisa still talked to each other every night. As if Lisa was aware of what she was depriving Jennie in terms of physical contact, she tried her best to answer Jennie’s questions one-by-one. The past few days, Jennie was able to gather that:

Note 1: Lisa described what separated her from Lili was like a one-way mirror. She could observe what Lili experienced during the day, but Lili could not see Lisa on the other side of the mirror.

Note 2: Lisa loved Lili like a proud sister. Lisa would become more talkative whenever she was singing Lili’s praises, which could be related to Lili’s sunshine personality or dance achievements.

Note 3: Lisa did not like to talk about her feelings. She much preferred to bring up Lili’s likes or dislikes, or change the topic altogether.

Note 4: Lisa would do anything for Jennie, even if it meant committing a crime or even killing someone. Jennie was honestly not surprised since her father was the trainer.

Note 5: In the rare event that Lili lost consciousness during day time, on average it would take about half an hour for her to regain control of her body from Lisa.

While Jennie was glad to learn more about the nuts and bolts of Lili and Lisa’s condition, there was no way she could just pretend that her first kiss with Lisa never happened. If Lisa thought that Jennie would just let things go that easily, then she was surely in for a big surprise. Jennie Kim did not take no for an answer.

* * *

Ever since Lili realized that her feelings for Jennie were not as one-sided as she previously thought, she had been floating on cloud nine. When they got back to their room after Jennie’s heartfelt serenade, Jennie was quick to ask Lili to be her girlfriend. Lili’s screaming yes could probably be heard by the entire floor of their dorm, followed by her picking up Jennie by the waist and swinging around in their room happily.

Being in Lili’s arms, Jennie had felt light-headed, like being on a carousel in an amusement park. In fact, she was quick to propose a date to the actual place, which earned her a big smooch on the cheek.

“I love rides! Could we go this Sunday, since we don’t have any classes?” Lili directed her beaming smile at the older girl.

Jennie had never dated anyone before, and she felt like she hit a jackpot for her first date to be with someone as cute and wonderful as Lili. This smol bean that had sauntered into her heart with ease, Jennie vowed to protect and cherish her to the best of her ability. “Sure, honey. That sounds like a great idea. Let’s try to hit all the attractions.” 

* * *

Actually it was a horrible idea to hit all the attractions, because neither girl wanted to appear to be the chicken when standing outside the Haunted House.

Lili was quick to notice Jennie’s queasy look as they paid for admission. She summoned all her bravado and walked in front of Jennie to lead her into the eerie attraction. “I’ll protect you, Jennie-unnie. You don’t have to be scared.”

Jennie could feel her hand squeezed hard every time a loud noise or a flying prop popped up when they turned a corner. _Am I going to get a bruise on my hand from visiting the Haunted House?_ Jennie could tell that Lili was just as freaked out as her, but she also did not want to hurt the younger girl’s feelings by saying anything since Lili seemed eager to play the protector.

The final straw came when a park personnel in costume jumped in front of Lili from a hidden door. Without warning, Lili slumped to the ground.

“LILI, ARE YOU OKAY?” Jennie bent down in panic, cradling Lili in her arms.

“I’m alright, Jennie. Lili is okay, too. She might wake up later with a bruise on her knee though.”

“Lisa?” Jennie could not believe her eyes. It was the first time she interacted with Lisa during the day. A wicked idea came to Jennie suddenly to get close to Lisa. “Do you know what your mission of the day is?”

“My mission is always to protect you.” Lisa replied automatically.

“Nope.” Jennie gave the word an extra emphasis with a pop. “For the next half an hour, you need to pretend to be Lili, since it’s day time, and we are in the middle of a date.”

“Oh … what exactly do I need to do?” Lisa did not know how to feel about this, but she could not bring herself to deny Jennie’s request.

“First thing first, can you get us out of here? This place is creeping me out.”

“That’s easy enough. Your wish is my command, princess.” Lisa had kept Jennie safely tugged under her arm as they navigated the rest of maze. Maybe it was Lisa’s naturally calming aura, but the jump scares had become easier to handle for Jennie, who even started to enjoy herself towards the end of the walk.

_How long has it been since I walk under the sun?_ Lisa wondered if that was what vampires would think about sometimes. She took out some pamphlets from Lili’s backpack to block the sun for Jennie as they walked around the theme park.

“You know in the movies, the superheroes like Catwoman are always really good at playing games and winning stuffed toys at the fairs.” Jennie sneaked a side glance at Lisa, who had been surveying their surroundings coolly like a bodyguard in duty.

Being in crowded places always put Lisa on edge, since people with bad intentions would blend in easily. “Jennie, I don’t think that’s a good …”

“Ahem, we are on a date, and you are getting me that stuffed teddy bear, period.” Jennie spoke with finality. “Think of it as a test. You know, to see if you are really good enough to be my bodyguard.”

When Jennie put it like that, coupled with Lisa’s own competitive spirit and pride for her martial arts skills, Lisa could only comply. She led Jennie to a nearby game counter with tin cans neatly piled up like a pyramid. The sign read - Knock out the entire pyramid with one shot to win a prize. Do it three times in a row to win a mega prize.

“Think you can get me the mega prize, hot shot?” There was a seductive tone in Jennie’s voice as the nickname rolled off her tongue.

“I was born ready.” Lisa grabbed the bucket of bean bags from the teenager working the counter, who was flabbergasted by the beauty in front of him.

“Miss, if I could offer you a tip …”

“Hold that thought, I don’t need your help.” Lisa took aim and cleared the three targets in a matter of seconds. “Now, give me my prize.”

Jennie received in glee from the shocked teenaged worker the teddy bear that she had had her eyes on. “Lisa, can I just say that you passed your test with flying colors?” _That was so hot …_

Lisa tried to stop herself from blushing from Jennie’s heated gaze. “Just doing my job.”

“Can’t you get your mind off work for one second and just enjoy your date with me? Am I not attractive enough to warrant your attention?” Jennie conjured up her best acting skills and turned her head to the side, willing her eyes to get watery.

Lisa was completely competent to face any adversary in hand-to-hand combat, but she felt utterly powerless in front of Jennie, who always seemed to know exactly what to say and how to act to get under her skin. “Jennie, you know there is only one girl in my heart.” _Jennie, it has always been you …_

Now it was Jennie’s turn to blush at what Lisa was implying.

“Lili, of course.” Lisa did not dare to say out loud what she truly felt.

“Aish!” Jennie smacked Lisa on the arm with her teddy bear. “Are you trying to steal my girlfriend now?”

Lisa chuckled while she tried to dodge Jennie’s playful slaps. She truly enjoyed moments like these with Jennie, where she could pretend that they were normal people in love, without the baggage of her night time activities. But all good times came to an end at some point. “Jennie, I think Lili is waking up. I need to lay down.” 

Lisa led Jennie to sit down on a nearby bench, while she used Jennie’s thighs as a pillow. She closed her eyes to let the familiar feeling of numbness wash over her that always happened when she gave up the body control to Lili. _This dream with Jennie was beautiful while it lasted …_

Jennie bent down and whispered, “Let me end our date on a high note then.”

Before Lisa could protest, Jennie’s lips were already on hers, with Jennie’s long hair acting like curtains on a canopy bed, obscuring their private moment from privy eyes.

“If this is what I get every time I pass out, could you knock me out every now and then, unnie?” Lili smiled into the kiss as she came to her senses.

“You don’t have to pass out to get kisses from me, silly.” Jennie leaned in for more kisses to give Lili a warm welcome back to the real world.

Eventually they both sat up to catch their breath, and Jennie had immediately explained to Lili that the amusement park people helped carry her to the bench to rest, and that they gave them a big teddy bear as an apology for the incident.

“Unnie, do you believe in guardian angels?”

Lili’s question had taken Jennie surprise. Jennie wondered if Lili was alluding to Lisa.

Lili continued. “I think I have one. Because every time I get into trouble, everything just gets resolved nicely when I wake up.” 

“Maybe you are right.” _Lisa would be happy to hear the way Lili referred to her as an angel._ “You must have racked up quite a bit of karma in your previous life to have someone like her watching over you.”

“You think my guardian angel is a girl too?” Lili lit up at Jennie’s slip of the tongue.

_Hurry, think of something quick!_ “You know, I think God is a woman as well.”

Lili gave Jennie a high-five. “Girls run the world. Beyoncé said so.”

The girls laughed their hearts out as they carried on with their date, without a care in the world. Jennie would later look back at this day as her best first date ever with her favorite girls.

* * *

Tonight, Jennie had had enough. She decided to confront the big elephant in the room head on as soon as she called out to Lisa, pulling her out of bed. “Why don’t you let me get close to you anymore?”

“I thought you like Lili.” Lisa made sure to take a step back to keep Jennie at an arm’s length.

“I do.” The response was like a knee-jerk reaction. Not a single doubt in Jennie’s mind.

“Then focus on her, and forget about me.” Lisa looked down at her feet, a part of her scared to look at Jennie’s reaction.

“How can I? Every time I’m with you, everything that you do, even though you don’t say it out loud ... it’s like you are begging me to not give up on you.” Jennie took a step forward to cup Lisa’s cheeks, forcing her to look at her. “Before I knew it, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

“Jennie, you know that my feelings are not real. I was trained to love and protect you.”

“Who’s to say your feelings are not real? They feel pretty damn real to me, especially when we kissed, and my body felt like it was on fire.” An idea suddenly came to Jennie. “You are probably trained to never say no to me, right?”

Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew where this was going.

“I command you to be my girlfriend. Now be a good girlfriend, and kiss me.” Jennie had put on a determined look, ready to do whatever it took to break down Lisa’s defense.

“You never give up, do you?” Lisa sighed in defeat, a smile slowly forming on her face.

“I just know what I want.” Jennie licked her lips subconsciously while staring at Lisa’s lips. “Maybe it’s time you stop acting like your feelings don’t matter.” 

Lisa hooked her finger in Jennie’s pajama bottoms to pull her closer. “You are gonna be the death of me, Jennie Kim.” She whispered before mashing their lips together.


	7. The one where Jisoo finally entered the story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Jisoo's birthday, so it's only fitting that she is being introduced to this story today! Happy birthday, Queen Jisoo!

It was a pleasant surprise for Lili to wake up spooning Jennie in her bed. She took a whiff of Jennie’s hair while listening to the older girl’s rhythmic breathing. The way Jennie smelled of baby powder from her shampoo made Lili think about Jennie’s duality – underneath the tough savage exterior, there was also a sensitive soul that could be borderline childish. Sometimes Lili wondered if Jennie had multiple personalities, which if that was the case, Lili was sure she would just fall in love with all the different facets of her Jennie-unnie. As much as Lili was enjoying this blissful morning, she reluctantly had to wake up her girlfriend to get ready for dance class.

Lili nuzzled closer to Jennie’s neck. “Wake up, Jennie-unnie. Did you crawl into my bed in the middle of the night?” 

“It’s morning time already? No way, I feel like I only slept for a few hours.” Jennie pouted with her eyes still squeezed shut. _Remind me to listen to Lisa next time when she kept asking me to go to sleep instead of making out._

“What kept you up all night long then?” Lili asked innocently, not expecting Jennie to get flustered by the simple question.

“Oh .. uhm …” _Kissing your alter-ego?_ “Sometimes awfully vivid dreams just suck the energy out of me.”

“Vivid dreams, huh? I get those from time to time too. Actually even during our date at the amusement park when I passed out at the Haunted House, I actually dreamt that I did end up leading you out of the maze.”

“Oh really?” _Is that just a pure coincidence, or is Lili and Lisa’s one-way mirror starting to crack?_ “Suddenly you were not afraid of ghosts in your dream?”

“I don’t know. I always seem much more fearless in my dreams, like I’m some kung fu master that can easily beat up tons of bad guys.” To demonstrate, Lili started doing the new moves she learned from their recent Taekwondo class.

“You are too sweet to hit people, honey.” Jennie patted the top of Lili’s head lovingly.

Lili stuck out her tongue. “I know … but could you just imagine, if I had encountered some life-altering event, like how Spiderman got bitten by a mutant spider, and I suddenly got all these awesome superpowers?”

_This is perhaps not too far from the truth._ “And what would you do with your superpowers?”

“Protect you, of course!” Lili pulled Jennie into a warm hug. “My girlfriend deserves to be the happiest girl in the world, out of harm’s way.”

Jennie felt tears coming to her eyes. It was almost like Lili and Lisa were talking to her at the same time, both girls coming to the same conclusion when it came to her safety and well-being. “Maybe in another life time. For now, since I’m the one between the two of us that actually had some self defense training, let me do the protecting, okay?” She hugged Lili closer, as if wanting the younger girl to melt into her body.

“Let’s promise to protect each other then. Us against the world!” Lili let go of Jennie to give a little fist pump, which earned her a tiny eye-roll from Jennie.

“You know, if singing and dancing don’t work out for you, you should seriously give acting a try. You can be so extra sometimes.”

“Extra sweet for you.” Lili blew Jennie a kiss, and Jennie pretended to crush the air kiss with her hands while scouting a deadpan expression, resulting in Lili looking scandalized.

Jennie burst out laughing. She loved messing around with her cutie pie Lili. _I’m falling hard and fast. What would I do without her…_

* * *

By the time the girls got to the dance classroom, their dance coach HeeJung had already assigned most trainees into groups of three. Jennie took note that there was a girl standing off the side on her own, but did not think much of it. When she went up to the coach requesting to be in the same group as Lili, the coach’s only condition was for her to grab that isolated girl as a partner too. Apparently, she was an older trainee that had always had difficulty in dance, so it was tough for her to find group partners given her reputation.

Jennie went back to Lili to relay the situation, and Lili immediately took the initiative to walk towards the said girl. “No one deserves to be left behind, especially when it comes to dancing.” Jennie smiled at her kind-hearted girlfriend and followed her.

“Hi there, I’m Lalisa, but you can call me Lili. Let’s be dance partners!” Lili extended her hand toward the lonely girl with a bright smile.

“I know who you are - the girl that slayed the Wonder Girls performance. I’m Jisoo by the way.” Unlike some of the other older trainees like Ju, there is a friendly ambiance around Jisoo, who was quick to return Lili’s handshake.

As Jennie got closer to Jisoo, she was surprised by the delicate facial features of the girl, who naturally looked ethereal. “Nice to meet you, Jisoo-unnie. I’m Jennie.”

“Ah, girl with the versatile killer voice. You two are new trainees, right? Are you sure you want to be my group partner? I’m not very good at dancing …” Jisoo replied sheepishly at Jennie and Lili. 

“I don’t mean to brag, Jisoo-unnie, but be prepared for the Lalisa Manoban experience.” Lili cracked her neck and stretched her limbs. “We are a team now. I won’t let you fail. It’s a pinky promise.” 

With Lili’s pinky in Jisoo’s face, the older trainer felt an unexplainable trust in the younger girl, despite how childish Lili sounded. “I’m warning you. Sometimes I wonder if I was born with two left feet.” Jisoo hooked her pinky hesitantly with Lili’s.

“People can dance even with no feet. The rhythm is in our blood.” Lili started twirling Jisoo around with imaginary music in the background, causing Jisoo to giggle uncontrollably. 

Jisoo wondered when was the last time she had associated dancing with fun, having been discouraged during dance classes time after time. _Lili is like my personal elf, filled with magic._ “Has anyone told you that you’re kinda like a teletubby?” 

* * *

Jennie, Lili, and Jisoo had become instant friends after spending time together during dance class. Lili and Jisoo turned out to be natural-born crackheads with similar brainwaves, easily keeping up with each other’s jokes. Meanwhile, Jennie had bonded with Jisoo over their mutual love for dogs, as Jennie gushed over Jisoo’s phone lock screen of her beloved pet. 

In fact, Jisoo had even invited the girls to join her for lunch in order to get to know each other better, starting with their family background. Jennie and Lili learned that Jisoo came from a family of police officers, but Jisoo had always felt compelled to use her angelic voice to soothe people’s souls rather than saying “freeze and put your hands up”. Jennie explained that her mother died at childbirth, and described her father as a traveling merchant selling antiques, but failed to mention everything was happening in the black market. 

When it was Lili’s turn, Jennie had made sure to pay special attention, as she was curious how different Lili’s story version would be from Lisa’s, since Lisa told her that her father had kept a lot of things in the dark from Lili. Lili had been upfront about her birth parents passing away and her humble upbringing of running a food stall in Thailand. To Jennie’s surprise, Lili had called her adoptive father (aka Jennie’s birth father) a security firm owner, offering protection to Korean businesses in Thailand. Jennie supposed it was a good front to explain all the weapons he owned.

The conversation topic soon switched to food, as Lili began to drool over what Jisoo was having, something called Jajangmyeon which Lili has never tried before. Normally Jisoo would not mind sharing her food with others, but she was keen to play a trick on Lili, noticing the younger girl’s desperation. 

When it was clear that Jisoo was not going to willingly give her a bite, Lili had resorted to trying to intercept the food before it reached Jisoo’s mouth, which basically meant a lot of wrestling over the lunch table.

Jisoo quickly found out that Lili was a strong girl, and turned to Jennie for help. “Jennie, get your woman under control.”

Jennie did a double take. _Excuse me? Were we that obvious?_ A thousand thoughts were going through Jennie’s mind, but to the naked eye, she had resembled more like a petrified statue.

“Yea, woman, girlfriend, whatever.” Jisoo became a bit exasperated fending off Lili when Jennie was still not responding. “Jesus Christ, was I the only person paying attention in our last vocal class? With the way you two were ravishing each other with your eyes during your performances? Hello?”

Jennie blushed. “Jisoo-unnie, could you keep this info to yourself?” She also grabbed Lili by her ear to make her sit still next to her, preferring to have a serious conversation with Jisoo first.

“I’m not a snitch. But to be honest, you don’t have to worry too much about the trainees reporting you two to Sajangnim, since most of them need you and Lili’s help for their vocal and dance training.”

“If you say so …” Jennie immediately thought about some of the less friendly trainees like Ju, but there was nothing that she could do at this point. 

“Relax. If I were you, I would keep a close eye on Lili, because we are amongst hormonal teenagers, and she is looking FINE~”

“Is that why Lili is at this lunch table today?” Jennie eyed Jisoo suspiciously.

“Hey, I’m right here.” Lili waved her hands between Jennie and Jisoo to make her presence known.

“Chill, Jendeukie. Lili is not my type. Besides, I’ve got my eyes set on someone else.” Jisoo stole a glance to the table at the far right corner of the cafeteria. There sat a pink-haired girl who was quietly enjoying her meal. 

“Oooooh, Jisoo-unnie got a C-R-U-S ...”

“Yes, I can spell, thank you. Now go back to the kindergarten when you came from.” Jisoo gave Lili a hard shove that made the younger girl almost fall off her chair.

Jennie laughed at the goofy display as she cleaned up their lunch table. She could easily imagine herself teaming up with Jisoo in the future to make Lili squirm. _Team Jensoo is officially open for business._

* * *

Cuddling at the witching hour had become a daily ritual for Jennie and Lisa, since Lili tended to be in deep sleep at this time, and it would be less likely for her to wake up suddenly. While it would still take some time for Lisa to feel worthy enough for Jennie’s love, at least she wanted to be the best girlfriend that she could be. 

“Babe, I’m really craving a coke zero right now. Do you mind going to the vending machine down the hallway for me?” Jennie mumbled into Lisa’s chest. 

“Anything for my princess.” 

While the phrase might sound like some teenage boy lip service line, Jennie knew that Lisa had meant it with all her heart. “I gotta say, you are ace-ing your girlfriend test so far.” Jennie lifted up her head to look Lisa in the eyes.

“Only because I have the best teacher.” Lisa’s voice dripped with adoration.

“You better not be thinking about my father right now.”

Lisa shook her head with a chuckle. “I’ll see you later, princess.”

When Lisa walked out of their room, she was surprised to come face to face to Jisoo, who happened to be strolling down the hallway at 3 in the morning.

“Hi Lili, crazy running into you at this hour. You got late-night munchies too?” Jisoo stuck her hand in a bag of popcorn that she just bought from the vending machine.

“…” Lisa searched Lili’s memory. _This must be the new friend Jennie and Lili made today._ Lisa put on a small smile. “Good evening, Jisoo. I’m just doing a quick errand for Jennie. See you in the morning.” She gave Jisoo a quick nod of the head, then continued her way. In general, Lisa tried to keep contact with other people to a minimal, since Lili was more the people person between the two of them.

Jisoo stared at Lisa’s shrinking backside with a frown. _Something is off … What happened to that ball of happy energy I met earlier today? What the hell, I’ll just ask Jennie now._ Jisoo was originally going back to her own room, but decided to make a detour to Jennie and Lili’s room, since she figured Jennie must be awake enough to ask Lili to do errands. 

***Knock knock***

“Lisa, babe, did you forget to grab money?” Jennie hopped off the bed to open the door for her girlfriend.

“Hi Jendeukie. Who is Lisa?”

_Oh shit …_


	8. The one where Jisoo felt repeatedly threatened by Lisa

“Jennie, they ran out of coke zero but I got you a sprite zero instead.” Lisa opened the door and once again was surprised by Jisoo’s presence. “Well, hello again.”

“Lisa-ya, Jisoo-unnie said she wants to talk to you.” Jennie looked over at Lisa sheepishly, wordlessly communicating to her girlfriend that they were busted. She had essentially told Jisoo Lisa’s origin story, minus the linkage between Lisa’s adoptive father and Jennie’s birth father being the same person. 

“Nice to meet you, Lisa.” Jisoo did not know what to expect. What Jennie had just told her had seemed like such a wild tale. _Two personalities inhibiting the same body? Lili turning into some ninja warrior after she falls asleep? Then Jennie managed to make them both her girlfriends? That’s like sowing wild oats to the next level ..._

Lisa silently contemplated her next move as she closed the door. Out of habit, she took out a hidden dagger from her outfit and started twirling around the deadly weapon in her hands while pacing near the only exit of the room. _I could always kill her and pretend that it was an accident._

Jisoo gulped noticeably as Lisa’s stare took on a dangerous glint. “Hey hey hey, Jendeukie, do something!”

“Babe, stand down. Jisoo-unnie is about to have a heart attack.” Jennie walked over to Lisa and placed her palm on the younger girl’s cheek to calm her down.

Lisa leaned into Jennie’s warmth and wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively. “Jisoo, I hope you know that you better carry this secret to your grave.”

If looks could kill, quoting Amy Winehouse, Jisoo felt like she just died a hundred times. “What? What secret? You see me carrying anything? Nope. Nada.” Jisoo even emptied her yoga pants pockets to prove her point.

Jennie felt a bit bad that Jisoo looked so freaked out that the things coming out of her mouth did not even make sense anymore. _Okay, but that’s kinda funny too …_ Jennie was trying to keep a straight face but was on the verge of failing.

Meanwhile, memories of the rough but harmless horseplay during the day between Lili and Jisoo started to bleed into Lisa’s mind. For the first time, Lisa felt like there was something poking on the edge of her consciousness, as if Lili was trying to influence her to be nicer to Jisoo. Finally, Lisa sighed. “You are lucky that Lili has taken a liking to you, Jisoo. Truce?” Lisa extended her arm forward with her palm up, expecting Jisoo to take the figurative olive branch. 

“Oh, is Lili talking to you? Hi Lili! Buddy, we are good, right?” Jisoo started to wave her hands in front of Lisa’s face, hoping that Lili could “see” her.

Jennie could not hold in her laugh anymore. “Oh my god, what are you doing, unnie?”

“Don’t people say your eyes are like windows to your soul or something?” Jisoo was still waving her hand at Lisa madly as if her life depended on it.

With Lisa’s arm still out-stretched and Jisoo showing no signs of grabbing it, Lisa was starting to feel embarrassed, then embarrassment slowly turned into anger. “Don’t … push it.”

Jisoo’s brain was already fried at this point. “Huh? What did you say?”

Suddenly Lisa let go of Jennie and stepped forward to grab Jisoo by the neck with both hands, her fingers skillfully exerting pressure on specific spots. Within seconds, Jisoo slumped into Lisa’s body, then Lisa dragged Jisoo over to her bed.

“Babe, is this what you used to do to me with those pressure points?” Jennie was partly shocked, but also partly turned on to see Lisa in action. The savage part of her was considering inviting Jisoo over once in a while to be Lisa’s ~~punching bag~~ sparring partner just to see her hot girlfriend bust out her moves.

“Just the tip of the ice berg of what I’m capable of, Jennie.” Lisa smirked. When it came to Lisa and the training she received, a slight cockiness would tend to come out as Lisa already paid out the blood, sweat and tears for years.

“So I see that your bed is occupied for the night …” Jennie slowly sauntered towards Lisa, full of intent.

“A great observation indeed, Ms. Kim.” Lisa hummed in agreement.

“I suppose I could be a good Samaritan and offer you a place to rest.” Both Jennie and Lisa’s visions flickered over to Jennie’s bed.

“And how shall I repay you, my kind lady?”

With Lisa within her reach, Jennie traced her finger in a languid manner from Lisa’s cheek to her collarbone, then finally arrived at her destination in the valley on Lisa’s chest. “Your body would do.”

Lisa covered Jennie’s wandering hand with her own, guiding it to press directly over her heart. “I thought you would never ask.”

Nothing more needed to be said, with both girls moving in synchrony. Sometimes two minds did work better than one. Wait, or were there three minds? 

In any case, the night was still young.

* * *

Lili once again woke up finding Jennie in her arms, though she could have sworn she had tucked herself into her own bed instead of Jennie’s bed. Though perhaps the bigger surprise was finding Jisoo sleeping in the bed next to hers. _What is Jisoo-unnie doing here? Did I just enter the twilight zone?_

Lili untangled her limps carefully from Jennie’s without waking up her girlfriend. She walked over to Jisoo’s bed side, filled with curiosity. “Jisoo-unnie, wake up. You’re sleeping in the wrong room.” Lili bent lower to stick a finger under Jisoo’s nose, making sure that she was still alive.

Jisoo’s stirred from Lili’s voice. “Owww .. what’s up with this killer headache? What happened last night?” Memories from the night before slowly came back to Jisoo as she opened her eyes. What was a girl to do when the person who tried to kill her just a few hours ago was suddenly 5 inches from her face? “AHHHHHHHHH!”

Screaming must have been contagious because Lili also started to scream.

Two pillows were quickly thrown at the screamers. “Shut up or get out of my room, both of you!” Jennie had never been a morning person. If she were to rank her love for Lili to be an 8 out of 10 on average, that ranking would typically drop to a 6 before 8:30 am. This morning in particular, when sleep had been a luxury due to Lisa’s talented hands the night before, not even her adoration for Lili was enough to spare Lili from being threatened to get kicked out.

The pillow’s impact somehow knocked some senses back into Jisoo. _Oh wait, Jennie did say Lili would re-emerge when morning comes._ She now looked more closely at the younger girl who was pouting from the floor. _There’s my crackhead partner!_

“Jennie-unnie is so mean in the morning …” Lili was busy fixing her bangs that got messed up from the pillow throw.

Jisoo rushed to give her young friend a hug. “Morning, Lili. I miss you soooooo much. You have no idea.” Honestly, Jisoo wanted to cry.

“Uhmmmm, I just saw you yesterday.” Lili was finding Jisoo’s behavior beyond strange. When Jisoo seemingly refused to let go of her, Lili started to get anxious, knowing that Jennie was the jealous type. “Jisoo-unnie, you might want to let go of me soon …”

“No. Never.” Jisoo shook her head vehemently. _My lifesaver!_

Lisa’s eye widened as she glanced to the side. “Unnie, please, I’m warning you.” _We are running out of time, she is waking up!_

“Hey, hands off my girlfriend or else.” Jennie gripped Jisoo from the back of her shirt to pull her off Lili. “Go find that pink-haired girl if you want someone to grope first thing in the morning. But all this?” Jennie gestured towards Lili from head to toe. “Mine.”

Lili blushed at the possessive tone from Jennie.

“Aish, okay, okay.” Jisoo put her hands up in surrender. “There are only so many threats on my life I could take within 24 hours.” _And there are like three of you taking turns to get on my ass about this and that._

“Life threats?” Lili gave Jisoo a confused look. 

Before she walked out the door, Jisoo gave Jennie and Lili a cheery salute. “See you girls in modelling class later. Love you girls~” 

The door slamming shut jolted Lili to go back to the most fundamental question of all. “Where did Jisoo-unnie come from this morning?”

* * *

Even though Jennie and Lili had been attending classes at YG for more than a week already, today had been the first time they attended modelling class. While both girls were new to modelling, Jennie had turned out to be a natural, as her self defense training had given her strong control of her body, particularly when she had to hold still. On the other hand, Lili had found it much easier to keep her body in motion, and the various poses the instructor was asking them to do had made her feel stifled. 

Another surprise was how Jisoo had been a star pupil in the modelling class among the more senior trainees. Jennie and Lili later learned that Jisoo had taken acting classes on her own in her spare time, and it was relatively easy for her to evoke different kinds of emotions when she was posing in front of a camera.

At the end of the modelling class, their instructor had chosen a few students to attend an offsite photo shoot right after class to promote the YG training school. To Jennie’s surprise, she was also chosen alongside several senior trainees along with Jisoo.

Lili could not help but do a silent cheer and a fist pump when Jennie’s name was called out by the instructor. It made her so proud any time Jennie’s star potential was being recognized by others. Even though technically everyone at YG was competing against one another, somehow Lili had never felt a tinge of jealousy towards Jennie’s talent, instead she had always imagined her debut with Jennie by her side.

While Jennie felt honored being chosen, the thought of leaving Lili’s side for the whole afternoon had left her with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. She noticed that all the trainees chosen had relatively feminine facial features, and she was a bit upset that Lili’s cool girl persona was not appreciated by their instructor.

When the instructor asked the photo shoot attendees to wait at the front door of the YG building, Jennie purposefully slowed down her steps and let the others walk past her. She pulled Lili aside to have a little privacy to say goodbye. “Honey, you know you are the most beautiful girl to me, right? If it was up to me, you’d be featured at the center of all the YG posters.” Jennie patted the younger girl on the head lovingly.

“It’s okay, Jennie-unnie. Actually if I had to choose, I would prefer to be the photographer and take pictures of you all day long.” Lili put out her hands to form two L shapes with her fingers, framing her girlfriend’s face. “You are the epitome of picture perfect.” Lili winked at her favorite model. “Now don’t come back till you’ve knocked them dead. Show them the awesomeness that is Jennie Kim.” 

Jennie blew Lill a kiss before jogging to catch up to Jisoo and the rest of the photo shoot event attendees.

Jisoo shook her head with a smirk, looking at the extra pep in Jennie’s steps as she finally joined the outing group. Remembering to keep Jennie and Lili’s relationship on the down low, she whispered to Jennie once they sat down next to each other on the bus. “So I see that your personal ball of sunshine have you fully charged to the brim.”

“Well, don’t get jealous, get inspired. When are you going to ask your girl out anyways?”

“Shhhhh … keep it down. I think someone in our photo shoot group is friends with you know who.”

“Chill, unnie. I don’t even know the name of you know who, you know. You secret crush is safe with me.”

Jisoo sighed. “Why can’t it be easy like you and Lili? If Chaeyoung was my roommate, everything would be so much easier. There would be so many chances for me to have private one-on-one conversations with her to get to know her better.”

“So she does have a name after all.” Jennie quickly stored the name away.

“So far all I could do was stare at her from a distance. I don’t know how to approach her, let alone talk to her.”

“You talk to me and Lili just fine.”

“That’s different! You girls came to talk to me first.”

“Jisoo-unnie, have you looked in the mirror lately. You’re gorgeous. Hell, if Lili and Lisa were not in the picture, I’d probably get flustered if you came to hit on me on the first day of class.”

“Really?” Jisoo turned to look at Jennie with hopeful eyes.

Jennie rolled her eyes. “Actually, sorry I lied. My girlfriends are like really cute and hot. So your theoretical advances probably wouldn’t have worked on me.”

Jisoo gave Jennie’s thigh a tough slap. “Jesus, you couldn’t have lied for a few minutes to make me feel better?”

Jennie shrugged. “I’m really not that great at giving people pep talks. That’s more Lili’s forte.”

“It’s okay, Jendeukie. Actually if you are that perfect, we might not be friends. That vicious tongue of yours is starting to grow on me.” Jisoo leaned her head on Jennie’s shoulder and yawned. “Wake me up when we arrive at our gig. I’m borrowing your shoulder since Lili is not around.”

“Did you ask for Lisa’s permission?”

Jisoo bolted upright. “Oh c’mon. Do you have to bring up your ninja girlfriend?”

“Just kidding, unnie. Lisa is not that scary.” Jennie stuck out her tongue at Jisoo.

“You try being on the receiving end of those laser beams coming out of her eyes!” 

“I happen to melt under her passionate gaze all the time.” Jennie giggled.

“Ew, gross. Get a room.”

“Already have one.” 

“Arrrrrgh. You guys suck.”

An innocent eyeroll. “Well, I guess Lisa and I do ...”

“Hey hey hey! On second thought, don’t finish that sentence.” Jisoo huffed in defeat. “Just let me sulk on my own with my non-existent love life.”

“Don’t give up, Jisoo-unnie. Love might be just around the corner~”

* * *

After Jennie and Jisoo had finished the photo shoot and arrived back at their dorm, their plan was to grab Lili from the room to go have dinner together at the YG cafeteria. To their surprise, Lili was nowhere to be seen when Jennie dropped off her bag in the room. What Jennie found instead was a note on her bed, clearly left by Lili for her, since it was signed with a lipstick mark and a bunch of rainbows and daisies, one of her favorite flowers.

**_To the girl of my dream,_ **

****

**_You’ve only been gone for a few hours, but I already miss you like crazy. Remember when you asked me about my superhero powers the other day? I think that if I’m superman, then you must be my kryptonite …_ **

****

**_I don’t know how long it will take you to come back from work, but in case I’m not in the room when you’re home, come find me in the cafeteria!_ **

****

**_Love,_ **

**_Your not-so-secret admirer_ **

_She called our room “home”? That’s so cute!_ Jennie could not help grinning like a fool as she read Lili’s letter.

“Jendeukie, smile any wider and you’ll look just like the Joker.”

“Way to kill the mood, Jisoo-unnie. Don’t make me ask Lisa to go Harley Quinn on you in the middle of the night.”

“Hey! Not funny!” Jisoo shuddered at Lisa’s hot but homicidal silhouette from the previous night. “I want a girl that can send me to a figurative heaven, not the actual heaven.” 

“Don’t all the gay girls go to hell?”

“Billie Eilish might contest to that.” Jisoo opened the door for Jennie, and the girls started to head towards the cafeteria.

With Billie Eilish’s song now stuck in their heads, Jennie and Jisoo began singing along to “All the good girls go to hell~” while dancing down the hallway. Some of the nearby trainees were surprised to see a senior trainee like Jisoo goofing around with a new trainee like Jennie, as people tended to hang out with others of similar seniority.

When nearing the entrance of their destination, Jisoo decided to jazz dance her way into the cafeteria, not noticing another trainee with a tray of food standing just behind the door. Needless to say, what ensued had been a combination of “oh my god” and “sorry”, with different food items flying in the air. Jennie had been a few steps behind Jisoo and witnessed the whole exchange in amusement.

Everyone in the cafeteria by now had all turned towards the entrance to check out the commotion, including a certain ball of sunshine.

“Jennie-unnie, Jisoo-unnie, come meet Chaeyoung!” Lili waved excitedly next to the pink-haired girl who had been sweetly tormenting Jisoo’s dreams from time to time.

“Way to make a first impression, unnie.” Jennie cackled while pushing Jisoo towards Lili and Chaeyoung. With the four girls now standing around a table, Jennie and Lili shared a look. _Are you thinking what I’m thinking, honey?_


	9. The one where the quartet was finally complete

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick shout out to Queen Jennie - Happy Birthday!

Jennie had sat down across from Lili, while Jisoo took the seat in front of Chaeyoung. Seeing how Jisoo had spilled her dinner on the floor, the rest of the girls had each chipped in something from their plates so that they could all enjoy their meals together.

“Jennie-unnie, the funniest thing happened after you left the YG building!” Lili’s hands were flailing excitedly, eager to talk her girlfriend’s ears off.

Jennie regarded Lili affectionately. _If people were blank canvas, whoever got close to Lili must be sprinkled with rainbow color paint._

“So I met Chaeyoung near the vending machine, cuz you know, I was trying to stock up some coke zero for you in case you got thirsty after your outing. Seriously, I don’t understand why our company would ever let this important sustenance of ours run out.”

  
“Hey, story first and rant later.”

  
Chaeyoung chuckled at Jisoo’s impatience. From the brief interactions Chaeyoung witnessed so far, it was easy to notice that Lili seemed to share a deeper bond with Jennie. “Lili here basically suffered a classic case of biting off more than she could chew.” 

  
“Bro, c’mon!” Lili could feel her blush burn through her cheeks. _Not in front of Jennie._

  
“Why am I not surprised?” Jennie gave those cute cheeks in front of her a quick pinch.

  
“You gotta admit, Lili. It was pretty funny watching you trying to balance a dozen cans of coke zero in your hands. It didn’t hit you that it was a bad idea when you couldn’t even see where you going?”

  
“Nooooo~” Lili tried to stretch out that syllable to mimic Chaeyoung’s accent. “Anyhow, guess who else I bumped into on my way back to the room?”

  
Jisoo deadpanned. “Do you really expect me to start listing out all the names in our dorm directory?”

  
“Okay, here’s a hint. Who’s the biggest bully at YG?”

  
“Oh you bumped into Ju? What did she want?” Jennie frowned. Just the mere thought of that girl was enough to irk Jennie.

  
“I guess she thought it would be a good idea to come for me when you weren’t around.” Lili mused. 

  
“That bitch ...” Jennie’s expressions darkened. 

  
Chaeyoung gulped at Jennie’s murderous look, vowing to never get on her bad side in the future.

  
“But luckily there was a knight in shining armor just around the corner!” Lili wrapped an arm around Chaeyoung’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Chaeyoung saw Ju sticking her foot out to trip me. But before I got close enough to Ju, Chaeyoung had pretended running into her and knocked her off her feet instead.”

  
“Never liked her attitude anyways.” Chaeyoung giggled at the memory, but when she ventured a glance towards Jennie, her smile became frozen in place as she could feel Jennie glaring at Lili’s arm around her shoulders.

  
Lili was still oblivious to the waves of jealousy rolling off Jennie as she continued with the story. “Ju was so mad when she got back up that she grabbed a soda can from my hands and tried to throw it in my face.”

  
Chaeyoung took the opportunity to get out of Lili’s embrace and get a good look at her new friend. “Actually, I’m still amazed how you dodged that throw. I mean, there was almost zero distance between you two.”

  
Jennie visibly relaxed when Chaeyoung put some distance between Lili and her. “That’s my girl.” _Or girls._ She said somewhat proudly. 

  
Meanwhile Jisoo looked wearily at Lili. _Do I need to start worrying about Lili getting some Lisa tendency?_

  
“Survival instincts I guess.” Lili shrugged in a nonchalant manner. “But that’s still only half the story. Guess who got hit on the head by that coke can instead.”

  
“Seriously, Lili?” Jisoo sighed and guessed randomly. “President of South Korea?”

  
“You are actually on the right track, Jisoo-unnie. It IS someone in power ...” Chaeyoung whispered to Jisoo with a tone of conspiracy.

  
Jennie gasped. “You’re kidding. Sajangnim?”

  
“Yup.” _My girlfriend is so smart!_ “He told Ju not to bother coming to training for the next two weeks.”

  
The four girls started to high five each other, a sense of camaraderie building up. Conversations flowed easily as they got to know each other. Jennie had immediately noticed the English words that Chaeyoung mixed into her speech were spoken with an Australian accent, since some of her friends back in New Zealand sometimes would also have this accent given the proximity.

  
“Jennie-unnie, you are from down under too? By the way, my friends back home also call me Rosé or Rosie, in case you ever feel like switching things up.” Chaeyoung’s eye lit up at the prospect of running into a neighbor far away from home.

  
Lili looked over at Chaeyoung in confusion. “Down under? But Jennie-unnie is more like an angel that fell from the sky.”

  
Jisoo rolled her eyes at Lili. “Is there a cheese making machine built into that fit body of yours?”

“Well, you better get used to it because this cheese machine comes with a lifetime guarantee.” Lili retorted before turning her attention back to Chaeyoung.

  
Jennie grabbed Lili’s hand and explained tenderly. “Honey, Rosie was talking about Australia and New Zealand when she said down under.” 

  
Chaeyoung could not help cooing at the little exchange. “Awwww, that’s so cute. How long have you guys been together?”

  
Jisoo chimed in. “See, I’m not the only one who noticed! You two are way too obvious.”

  
Jennie squinted her eyes at Jisoo. “Payback is gonna be a bitch. Just wait till I tell ...”

  
Jisoo stuck out her tongue at Jennie. “I knew better than to hang around your room in the middle of the night.”

  
“Is there an inside joke about things happening in the middle of the night?” Chaeyoung asked.

  
Lili also added her two cents. “I have no idea what you guys are talking about. What happens at night?”

  
Jennie quickly changed the subject. “So Rosie, to answer your question, Lili and I have been dating pretty soon after we started our YG training over a week ago.”

  
_Oops, I guess I almost gave away Lisa’s secret._ Jisoo gave Jennie an apologetic look. 

  
“Chaeyoung-ah, even though I want to shout from the rooftops that I have the hottest girlfriend ever, it’d be cool if you just keep this info to yourself for now. Is that okay?” Lili put up her best puppy look, though deep down she had already pegged Chaeyoung as a good friend right after the Ju incidence.

  
“You have my word …” Chaeyoung reached out to ruffle Lili’s bangs. “…bro.”

  
When Chaeyoung had suggested for them to exchange numbers so that they could meet up later, Jisoo thanked the heavens that this cute pink-haired girl’s number had magically fallen into her hands without her having to make a move. 

  
Jennie had smirked at Jisoo’s giddiness as they wrapped up their meals to head back to their respective rooms. 

* * *

  
Perhaps the run-in with Ju earlier had tired Lili out more than expected. When the girls got back to their room, Lili quickly fell asleep in her bed after asking Jennie for a good night kiss.

  
By 11 pm, Jennie was reading The Price of Salt quietly in her bed, feeling at peace while listening to the light snoring of her cute girlfriend.

  
Jennie’s trance was suddenly broken by a couple frantic knocks on the door. She grumpily got out of bed, planning to give a piece of her mind to whoever was on the other side. But as soon as she saw who it was, anger was replaced by amusement, particularly at those bloodshot eyes staring back at her. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  
“I got no game, Jennie. You girls have got to help me with Chaeyoung.”

  
“Okaaaaay, at 11 pm?” Jennie let Jisoo in nevertheless.

  
“Can’t you tell that I had trouble falling asleep?” Jisoo pointed at her dry eyes. “Besides, time is of the essence. I have public speaking class with Chaeyoung first thing in the morning tomorrow.” As Jisoo walked in to seek out her crackhead partner in crime, she was surprised to find a body wrapped up under the blanket in Lili’s bed.

  
“Oh, Lili is asleep already?” Suddenly, barging into Jennie and Lili’s room did not seem like such a bright idea anymore. “Maybe I should come back tomorrow during the day. In case you-know-who wakes up ...” Jisoo started to backtrack towards the door, hoping the figure in bed would not stir.

  
“At this hour, I would say it’s a 50/50 chance.” Jennie commented dryly.

  
Since Jisoo’s sight never left Lili’s bed, it was too late for her to notice her foot coming into contact with the stack of coke zero near the door. Jisoo’s eyes bulged out of the sockets when the figure in bed slowly rose up from the sound of metal cans clashing against each other. “Uhm, Lili?”

  
“Better luck next time, Jisoo.” Lisa’s steely gaze made Jisoo feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

  
“You’re here early, babe!” Jennie ran over to tackle Lisa in bed.

  
“Yea, you guys get on with whatever you two do in private. I’m just gonna go ...” Jisoo would very much like to conjure up some invisible cloak right about now.

  
“Lisa-ya, I think Jisoo-unnie actually really needs our help. Could you play nice for a while?”

  
“Do I have to?”

  
Jennie whispered into Lisa’s ears. “I’ll let you be naughty with me later.”

  
Lisa coughed to hide the blush that reacted to Jennie’s straight forwardness. “Jisoo, come sit down at the study desk.” She pulled Jennie up to sit properly side by side on her bed.

  
“No, it’s really okay.” _Just a couple more steps to the door_ …

  
“Don’t make me repeat myself.” The line was delivered with a quiet voice, but the threatening undertone was hard to miss.

  
“Yup, right away.” Jisoo scurried across the room.

  
“Relax, Jisoo-unnie. Lisa is not going to bite.” 

  
“Says who?” Jisoo folded her arms defensively.

  
“Well, not under my watch at least.” Jennie commented sweetly. “Or only with my approval.”

  
Lisa smiled indulgently at her girlfriend, and gave her behind a soft squeeze.

  
“Ahem, still here. Normally I would tell you girls to get a room, but seeing how we are already at said room, would you mind waiting till I’m outta here to get it on?”

  
Lisa looked at Jisoo with a bored look. “What do you want?”

  
“There are still so many things we don’t know about Chaeyoung. Like what if she doesn’t even like girls?” Jisoo threw her hands in the air to accentuate the gravity of the situation.

  
“At least she seemed pretty cool about me dating Lili.” Jennie thought back to Chaeyoung’s reaction at the cafeteria.

  
Lisa had felt a clench in her heart from Jennie’s comment. _You knew all along that Lili is the one with the legitimate relationship with Jennie out in the open ..._

  
“But did you see her fancy nails? They are like really long.” 

  
“Well, maybe she is a virgin. Don’t take me and Lisa as the norm around the dorm.”

  
“I mean, how did you two get over that barrier of not knowing?”

  
“Honestly, Lili was very straight forward with her cheesy pick-up lines. I would have to be dense like a rock to not know that she was attracted to me.”

  
Lisa snorted at Lili’s day-time memories.

  
“I can’t expect Chaeyoung to behave like Lili.” Jisoo buried her face in her hands frustratingly.

  
“Or ...” Jennie clapped her hands in delight. “… it could be the other way around. Try some pick-up lines on Chaeyoung and see how she reacts.” 

  
“What if she slaps me in the face?”

  
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll be into that.” Lisa chuckled darkly.

  
“Not helping!” Jisoo looked over at Jennie pleadingly.

  
“Babe, shhhhh.” Jennie planted a kiss on Lisa’s cheek. “Behave.” She turned back to Jisoo with a suggestion. “How about we start a charm battle tomorrow? Under the disguise of a game, you could always laugh off any awkwardness. If she blushes at your pick-up lines, that would be a good sign.”

  
Jisoo got up from the study desk and pointed at Jennie. “You are a genius! I could just kiss you right now if I didn’t know that your girlfriend is capable of killing me with her bare hands.” 

  
Lisa scoffed at Jisoo’s comment. “Off you go, Jisoo. Go get your girl so that you don’t ever need to wake me up again.”

  
Jisoo did not need to be told twice to understand that she has over-stayed her welcome. With her hand on the door knob, Jisoo turned around last minutely at Lisa. “Was that actually your way of encouraging me?” Jisoo then mouthed the word – unbelievable – to Jennie before closing the door.

  
“You’re getting soft, babe.” Jennie adjusted herself to sit on Lisa’s lap, arms wrapped around her neck in a possessive manner.

  
“Is that right?” Lisa held Jennie a bit tighter. “What do you propose we do about that?”

  
“You know how I like it when you flex your muscles around me.” The statement dripping with something intensely raw.

  
Lisa swore that Jennie’s voice was like a drug, an instant intoxication that drowned out all rational thoughts. “Make me.”

Jennie loved that Lisa was always ready to surrender herself completely to her needs. Lisa was by no means weak given the training that she received, but it was a conscious choice to trust Jennie with all her heart. Jennie playfully bit on Lisa’s ear lobe. “Get naughty or else.”

  
“Your wish is my command.” Lisa smiled into the kiss.

* * *

  
  
The four girls had agreed to meet up after lunch since they had different classes in the morning. Before they got to the cafeteria, Jennie had briefed Lili on the charm battle plan to help Jisoo ascertain the orientation of a certain pink-haired girl. Lili had immediately squealed at the game plan, proclaiming that she was going to be the charm champion. But with Lili’s track record, Jennie was not so sure ...

  
Lunch time came quickly and the quartet found themselves sitting back at the same table yesterday. Lili’s suggestion to carve their initials under the table was quickly vetoed by the rest. To quote Jisoo, “if they were to kick me out of the training program, I better had shaken my ass to my heart’s content already, and not over some stupid act of vandalism.”

  
It was Jennie who had her eyes on the prize all along, seeing how the crackhead duo always got distracted easily. After finishing their respective sandwiches, she had explained the charm battle game to Chaeyoung, who was more than happy to give it a try. “So let’s do this in teams. Lili could do it with me, and Rosie could partner up with Jisoo-unnie. We’ll do a couple rounds and see who could come up with the most swoon-worthy pick-up lines.”

  
“Oh I want to go first!” Lili mustered up a seductive look to the best of her ability and stared at Jennie. “If your butt was a floor ...”

  
_Oh no_ ... Jennie face-palmed herself in her mind. _The cheese is coming_ ...

  
“… I’d be a tap dancer.” _Yea, I’m even swooning over my own pick-up line._

  
When Lili saw that an eerie silence took over the whole group, she was frustrated that the joke did not land.

  
“You guys didn’t get it? Cuz Jennie has a fine booty that I could tap all day ... Owwww!” Lili’s forehead once again a target of Jennie’s finger-flick of wrath.

  
“Justice is served.” Jennie blew off the imaginary dirt on her index finger.

  
Lili looked over at her new friend from down under for solidarity.

  
“You deserve that, Lili.” Chaeyoung gave Jisoo a high five, which sent butterflies to the older trainee’s stomach. “Now watch and learn.” She fixed her eyes on Jisoo, whose body had turned stiff in anticipation. “If staring was a crime, then I would be locked in jail because I couldn’t stop staring at you.”

  
Jisoo turned away from Chaeyoung as she felt her face transform into a ripe tomato.

  
“Oooooo, did I win?” Chaeyoung looked over at Jennie and Lili enthusiastically.

  
“Not so fast, Rosie. I haven’t had a go yet.” Jennie’s competitive nature rose to the surface. “Honey, look at me.”

  
Lili eagerly took in everything that was Jennie Kim. The more she stared, the more she was in awe that she could call this gorgeous girl hers.

  
Jennie was taken aback by the unabashed adoration that was emanating from the younger girl. Whatever pick-up line she had googled the night before suddenly felt empty and trite. In the end, her vast vocabulary was unexpectedly reduced to one single phrase. “I love you.”

  
Lili’s eyes widened at the sudden proclamation. It was the first time Jennie had said it to her. Three simple words that seemed to have pulled the distance between their hearts infinitely closer. A million emotions rushed through Lili at the same time - gratitude, joy, hysteria ... but suddenly a wave of numbness wash over her, and her eyelids just felt so … heavy ...

Chaeyoung was a bit worried when she saw how Lili became immobile with her eyes closed. “Jennie-unnie, is Lili okay?”

  
Jennie had a hunch about what happened, knowing one of the possible conditions for the Lili-Lisa switcheroo was if Lili felt too overwhelmed. “Hey, Rosie. Could you go grab some wet paper towels from the lunch lady? I think Lili just needs to freshen up a bit.”

  
“Yea, of course. I’ll be back soon.” Chaeyoung hurriedly jogged away.

  
As soon as the pink-haired girl was out of the eavesdropping range, Jennie leaned closer to her girlfriend to try to get her to wake up. “Lisa, babe, can you hear me?”

  
All the alarm bells in Jisoo’s head went off at the same time. “Did you say Lisa? What’s going on? It’s day time!”

  
“Long story short. Lisa sometimes comes out when Lili’s emotions go into overdrive.”

  
“You know you technically just won the charm battle, right? I mean, talk about a total knock out.” 

  
A calm voice interrupted Jennie and Jisoo’s conversation. “Jisoo, I see that you have yet to achieve your objective. What is taking so long?”

  
“Hi, babe.” Jennie grinned from ear to ear as she gave Lisa a bear hug.

  
Chaeyoung had chosen this moment to re-join the group with paper towels in her hands. “Oh great, Lili is back!” 

  
“I’m sorry to have made you worry, Chaeyoung.” Lisa smiled softly at the new arrival. “I feel fine now.”

“Are you sure? Cuz you sound different …” Chaeyoung put her hand on Lisa’s forehead to feel her temperature.

_Oh no, Lisa is going to chop Chaeyoung’s hand off!_ But to Jisoo’s surprise, Lisa simply stayed still while Chaeyoung hovered her like a worried nurse. _What the hell is up with the double standard, Lisa?!?!_

“Actually Rosie, I think I’ll take Lili back to our room to lay down for a while.” _25 minutes is plenty of time to get my grooves on._ “Bye now.”

Lisa silently chuckled at the neediness in Jennie’s voice. “I’ll see you later, Chaeyoung and Jisoo.” She stood up gracefully but let herself be dragged away by her girlfriend making a hasty exit.

Chaeyoung watched the retreating figures thoughtfully, running a hand over her lips absently. “Jisoo-unnie …”

Jisoo had a bad feeling about whatever was coming out of Chaeyoung’s mouth next.

“…would you like to come back to my room?”

_Oh._ Jisoo did a double take, her mind quickly shifting from the secret identity of Lisa back to her primary objective. “Should we grab some dessert to go?”

“No need. Jisoo-unnie is eye candy enough.” Chaeyoung gave Jisoo a cute wink.

There was never a time when Jisoo had praised the lord more for Lili’s cheesy lines to rub off on Chaeyoung. “Lead the way, my lady.”


	10. The one where they followed Chaeyoung to church

“Welcome to my humble abode, Jisoo-unnie!” Chaeyoung opened the door to her room, and the girls were greeted with a faint fragrant of roses, coming from the fresh flowers on the study desk. 

“You live in this room by yourself?” Jisoo bit her lip subconsciously. _This is surprisingly convenient …_

“My old roommate unfortunately was just eliminated from the program. I think the company will assign another roommate to me soon.”

_What better time to seize the day!_ Jisoo’s heart was beating wildly with anticipation as she slowly walked over to Chaeyoung’s bed to take a seat, trying not to let her nerves be exposed.“I like what you did with the room.” Jisoo’s eyes suddenly landed on something leaning against the bed. “You know how to play the guitar?”

“That I do.” Chaeyoung smiled sweetly at the older girl before plopping down on the empty side of the bed. “Actually I volunteer to play guitar in my church group every Sunday morning too. Maybe you could come along with me this weekend?

_Church …_ If Jisoo’s heart was the Earth, Chaeyoung’s words had just obliterated the planet like a gigantic asteroid. Jisoo was having a hard time understanding how Chaeyoung’s mind functioned. One minute she thought she was about to get some action. Now her mind was screaming - Abort Mission! _Is it cuz I have been using the lord’s name in vain in my head lately? Why is the world so cruel to me???_

  
“So I was thinking about inviting Jennie-unnie and Lili along ... What do you think?”

  
_Yes, I need back-up!_ “Great minds think alike!” Jisoo gave Chaeyoung a friendly pat on the shoulder, feeling a bit awkward, not wanting to come across as overtly friendly. If Chaeyoung did turn out to be straight, Jisoo would still very much like to remain friends with the pink-haired girl at least. “I have dance class with Jennie and Lili this afternoon. I’ll ask them.”

  
Without noticing Jisoo’s inner turmoil, Chaeyoung had thrown herself into the arms of Jisoo. “I can’t wait to let you see me perform and meet my friends. We are going to have so much fun together!”

  
Jisoo’s hands were hung stiffly on her sides, again not wanting to overstep any boundaries. _Gospel music, here I come …_

* * *

“Jisoo-unnie, I led my girlfriend away during lunch to give you some alone time with Rosie. Please tell me you used that time wisely.” Jennie stretched along the back wall of the dance classroom with Jisoo while Lili and the dance instructor chose music in the front to get the class started.

“You did it for me? Oh please, who are you kidding? Your lipstick is a bit smudged by the way.”

Jennie used her sleeve to wipe her lips frantically. _I swore I checked the mirror before coming to class!_

“Gotcha.” Jisoo smiled mischievously. 

Jennie gave Jisoo a rough shove in annoyance. “You’re deflecting. So what’s new with you and Rosie?” She bent over the water fountain to get a drink.

With determined eyes, Jisoo spoke solemnly. “You and I are going to church this Sunday.”

Jennie choked on her water. “I hope you’re not using some weird sex euphemism here.”

The older trainee sighed. “This is a bad sign, right? My dream of having Chaeyoung as my girlfriend just seems to be drifting further away.”

“On the bright side, Rosie wants to spend more time with you.” Jennie gave Jisoo a weak smile. _Okay, this is pretty bad …_

“Correction. With US. You and Lili are coming along this Sunday too.”

“With what Lili and I have been up to, you know there’s a chance we might just burst into flames once we step foot in a church, right? Have you seen the movie Dogma with what happened to that fallen angel Ben Affleck?”

“Is this a really roundabout way of calling yourself an angel?” Jisoo eyed Jennie skeptically. “And stop being so dramatic! I thought we were friends. Friends back up each other.”

“Fine, fine. Even if I say no, I’m sure Lili will drag me along anyways.” Jennie rolled her eyes. “My girlfriend does have a soft spot for her Jisoo-unnie.”

“As if you don’t yourself.” Jisoo stuck out her tongue at the other half of Team Jensoo. Jisoo understood that Jennie’s actions would always speak louder than her words. The wall of vicious words built around Jennie might seem high for outsiders, but since Jisoo grew up with a bunch of tough-acting boys back home, she had always been a good judge of people’s true characters.

A series of loud claps from the instructor interrupted the girls’ conversation. “Is everyone ready to shake her bon bon?” Ricky Martin’s song started flowing across the classroom. 

The song was a bit old, but if the final outcome led to Lili shaking her ass sexily in front of her, Jennie would gladly push her musical preference aside. _How did I ever get so lucky to have someone like her be mine?_

* * *

When it was that time of the night again, Jennie decided to crawl into Lisa’s bed to see if she could use her body heat to wake her up. With her arms and legs wrapping around Lisa’s body like a koala bear, Jennie was able to admire her girlfriend’s facial features at a close distance. 

A soft whisper had ultimately broken Jennie’s trance. “Jennie, what are you doing?” 

“Trying to see if I could melt into you.” Jennie replied but showed no signs of letting go. “But I gotta say, your shell is pretty hard to break into.”

Lisa’s chuckle was somewhat muted by Jennie’s curls in front of her face. “My shell? Am I a ninja turtle now?”

“Jisoo-unnie already calls you my ninja girlfriend, so close enough.” As Jennie’s mind ran amok pairing up Lisa with different classic ninja turtle weapons and colored headbands, she had realized that she actually did not know what Lisa was good at. “Babe, what would be your weapon of choice in a fight?”

Lisa untangled herself from Jennie’s bear hug to sit up. Whenever she thought about her days of violence at Thailand with Jennie’s father, she would inadvertently distance herself from Jennie a bit, as if her memories could actually leak out to physically hurt the person next to her. “Anything could be a weapon as long as you have the intention. But I suppose you could say that I’m quite good at hand-to-hand combat.”

Jennie also sat up to take hold of Lisa’s hand. She could tell that Lisa going down the memory lane was making her girlfriend feel uneasy, so she tried to lighten up their moods. “Can you just imagine what it’d be like after we debut? We’ll be in the middle of a performance, then some bad guys show up, and you hurl your microphone at them?”

“Our girl group could be called Lisa and the Deadly Microphone.” Lisa tried to be nonchalant with her reply, but her eyes were glinting with mischief.

“Hey, what about me? What if I want to be the leader of our group?” Jennie punched Lisa on the arm lightly. 

“How about … Jennie and Her Sexy Ninja Minions?” Lisa wiggled her eyebrow.

“Ha … ha … when did you get so funny?” Jennie replied sarcastically with a half-forced smile, trying to hide the fact that the mental image of Lisa in a scantily clad uniform as her back-up dancer had just sent heat directly between her legs. “Changing the subject now. Do you know what we are doing on Sunday morning?”

Lisa searched Lili’s memory and realized that Jennie had passed Jisoo’s request to Lili right after dance class. “You meant going to church?”

“Yea, are you religious? Is Christianity big in Thailand?”

“Lili is a Buddhist, but it’s more complicated for me. What about you?”

Jennie squinted her eyes at her night time companion. “It’s against the rules to answer a question with another question.” 

“Hmmm … let me put it this way. I think there are some high powers above, so I’m not an atheist. But there were things that I’ve done while being with your father that would not be classified as good behavior, so it’s hard for me to worship any type of deity.”

“And there goes my father again …” Jennie mumbled under her breath.

Lisa pinched Jennie’s cheek affectionately. “He was kind enough to only let me handle the bad people. I think in a way he was trying to preserve my conscience too.”

“You always take his side.” Jennie pouted.

“Sorry, princess.” Lisa pressed a soft kiss to Jennie’s temple. “But you know you are always my number one.”

“You better cuddle me to death to get back on my good side.”

Lisa gently guided Jennie by the chin to stare into her eyes. “With pleasure.” 

* * *

“Did you know that Sunday in French kinda sounds like – Demon … Shhh …? And to think that Sunday is the Lord’s Day. It’s like telling the devil to be quiet so that God could speak, which is a pretty funny imagery actually.” Jennie felt extra verbose during her day off today, frankly feeling quite tense about going to a church service for the first time.

Lili jumped over a puddle that formed at the base of the staircase leading up to the church. “Where are we supposed to meet Chaeyoung again?” Normally Lili would be holdings hands with Jennie, but she was given strict instructions before they left the YG building to not be clingy.

Jisoo turned her head around to look back at her wing-women of the day, not feeling too confident, but she knew she had to just suck it up. “Chaeyoung told me to look for her friend Ashley at the church entrance.”

Jennie looked up the staircase. “Is that her waving at us?” _Here we go._

“Good morning, girls! Welcome to the Compass Church.”

Jisoo stepped forward to the front of the YG trio. “Hi, we are looking for Chaeyoung. Are you Ashley by any chance?”

“Yes, I am. Sister Chaeyoung actually saved the front row seat for you. Please follow me.” 

While Lili skipped happily after Ashley, Jennie and Jisoo exchanged a worried look, both not looking forward to be in the hot seat.

“Has your flesh begun to sizzle yet?” Jisoo whispered to Jennie in a conspiratorial manner.

“I’m all ready for the pastor to grill me alive with his laser beam eyes. I hope you like barbecue.”

Jisoo smiled weakly. “Think of it as getting a tan.”

“More like getting skin cancer.” Jennie deadpanned.

“I love you, Jennie. I swear I’ll give you the most heartfelt eulogy at your funeral.”

“Oh screw you.” Jennie whisper-shouted.

“No, thank you. Don’t want your girlfriends to chop my head off. And we all know which one could actually do it with her bare hands.”

Jennie snickered. “She does have talented hands …”

“We are in a church for Christ’s sake! Get your mind out of the gutter!”

“Jennie-unnie, Jisoo-unnie, hurry up!” Lili was getting impatient sitting at the front row by herself when the other two girls seemed to be walking in slow motion while bickering.

When Jisoo finally sat down, she had noticed a familiar looking guitar placed on stage very close to where she was. She opened up a pamphlet placed next to her seat that detailed the activity flow of the Sunday service. _So we are starting with a quick prayer then it’s singing time. Great, just like karaoke._

A man in holy attire walked towards the podium and spoke into the microphone. “Ahem, may the congregation please rise for a prayer.”

Lili looked around and was genuinely fascinated with everyone standing up and closing their eyes. _I wonder if pickpockets ever steal people’s wallets in the middle of prayer?_

Jennie had pulled Lili up with her after the pastor spoke, not wanting to stick out like a sore thumb. “Honey, let’s pray.”

“Is world peace okay?”

Jennie smiled at her kind-hearted girlfriend and closed her eyes. “Whatever you want, hon.” _To whoever is listening, please give me strength to not fall asleep in the middle of the sermon …_

_Dear god, I pray that nobody’s wallets will be stolen today. World peace. Amen._ Lili opened her eyes and saw that everyone was still busy praying, including her girlfriend, so she gave Jennie a quick peck on the lips.

Jennie opened her eyes as soon as she felt the familiar minty breadth. Looking around to make sure nobody saw them, she gave Lili a chastised look. “Not now.”

“Shhh … You guys are making too much noise.” Jisoo whispered with her eyes still closed.

The pastor once again spoke into the microphone. “I am happy to see some new faces among us today. Don’t be afraid to make some noise if the spirit compels you.”

Jennie felt guilty when she thought about the type of noise that she would like to make back in the safety of her dorm room. _I’m so going to hell …_

“Congregation, please remain standing while our youth orchestra lead us to sing praises for our lord and savior.”

Jisoo had clapped along with everyone else and was happy to see her favorite pink-haired girl walk onto the stage towards her guitar. Time stood still as Jisoo’s focus remained solely on Chaeyoung from the moment the younger girl opened her month to sing. As if under a spell, before Jisoo knew it, the Sunday service had come to an end.

* * *

Chaeyoung had joined the YG trio outside the church after packing up her guitar. “Do you girls want to grab lunch with my church friends nearby? You met Ashley already, right?”

Lili commented casually. “Yea, she was nice. She let us sit shotgun at the church service.”

Chaeyoung chuckled at Lili’s word choice. “I wanted to be close to you girls during the service.”

Jisoo had noticed that when Chaeyoung was saying **you girls** , the younger trainee was staring at her straight in the eyes. _Am I reading too much into this?_

Apparently Jisoo was not the only one who picked up on Chaeyoung’s mannerism. Jennie wondered if Chaeyoung realized how she would always linger her gaze on Jisoo a couple seconds more than what would consider friendly.

“Sister Chaeyoung, you ready to go?” A loud voice boomed from behind the quartet.

Jisoo could see that Ashley was jogging up towards them followed by an ARMY of guys. When Chaeyoung had said other church friends, Jisoo had assumed it would be some other girls like Ashley. _This is no lunch. It’s a mixer!_

“I got us some high-quality god-fearing single fellas with us today.” Ashley announced proudly to the girls, seeing that the guys were still some distance away so they would not hear them. “Who’s up for some Christian loving?”

“Oh … yay?” Jisoo cringed at her shaky voice. _CODE RED!!!_


	11. The one where feelings got all mixed up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's excited about the BlackPink concert?!?!

Sunday had turned out to be quite fun in Lili’s opinion. Sure she was sad that her girlfriend would not allow her to hold her hand in public, saying something about ruining Jisoo-unnie’s game plan, but the day so far had been filled with uplifting music (Chaeyoung’s mini solo on stage was no joke) and meeting friendly people. Plus Ashley had just announced that lunch would be sponsored by the church, and one could never go wrong with free food. 

Jisoo, on the other hand, had been swaying on the fine line between heaven and hell all morning. When Chaeyoung blessed her ears with that angelic voice, Jisoo was imagining all her wrongdoings being washed away, wondering if that was how people would feel after doing a confession in a catholic church. But as soon as that army of guys came into her vision and started walking alongside them towards the lunch venue, Jisoo could feel her heart being dragged down towards the depths of hell, many strange ideas beginning to enslave her mind. _Should I call up my brother on duty today and just have him run these guys’ names in the police database? Who knows, maybe some of them will have unpaid parking tickets and my brother can come arrest them._

Jennie had been silent during the walk, preferring to observe quietly how Chaeyoung behaved around these guys. Even though the things that came out of her mouth towards Jisoo could be quite mean sometimes, she had already come to view Jisoo as her own older sister, and she would do everything in her power to look out for Jisoo’s interest, which currently is a certain pink-haired girl. _If Rosie starts acting like she has the hots for one of these guys, I better get ready to take Jisoo-unnie back to the dorm after lunch to cheer her up._

With the group of 10 moving at the same time, Chaeyoung found herself being pushed to the front of the group when Ashley looped arms with her. While Chaeyoung normally would not mind entertaining Ashley’s eagerness, she could not help looking back at her YG friends every other minute to make sure that they did not feel left out, especially Jisoo, since Lili and Jennie could always just exist in their own little world.

When they got to the Korean fried chicken restaurant, Ashley had suggested to have all the girls sit on one side, while the guys took the other side.

Jennie was quick to push Lili into the far corner seat, with the intention of minimizing those guys’ interaction with her personal ball of sunshine. She then sat down and pulled Jisoo into the seat next to hers. _Can’t be a wing-woman without being right next to the BFF._

“Hey Chaeyoung, do you want to sit next to me?” _Please say yes …_

“Of course, Jisoo-unnie.” Chaeyoung gave her million-watt smile. For some reason, the way her name sounded from Jisoo’s lips had always been able to spread warmth into her heart. _Jisoo-unnie is going to be such a heartbreaker one day. So captivating without even trying …_

“Hey, Chaeyoung,” one of the guys spoke up while they were waiting for the menus, “Can I just say that you have really beautiful friends? Thanks for bringing them along.”

“Not only are they beautiful, but super talented as well. We all train together at YG.” Chaeyoung was feeling proud of the girls, imagining what it would be like if the four of them got to debut together one day.

“And now would be the perfect time to play some ice breaker game!” Ashley chimed in excitedly at the far end of the table. “Why don’t we go around the table and give a quick intro? To make it more fun, let’s also name something we like and dislike in a partner. I’ll go first. I’m Ashley, as you all know. I like guys who love God as much as I do, and dislike mean people. Chaeyoung, you go next.”

“Oh … uhm …” Chaeyoung felt like she should be used to Ashley’s spontaneous behavior by now, but she was not a big fan of being put on the spot. “You guys all know me. I’m Chaeyoung. I like people who are into music …” Chaeyoung found her eyes landing on her unnie sitting next to her. “…and dislike judgemental people.”

Jisoo sighed internally. _If only I can just scream at the top of my lungs that I like Chaeyoung and get this stupid ice-breaker game over with._ Instead, Jisoo conjured up her acting chops, and switched on her charms to hide her frustration. “My name is Jisoo. I like people who can sing like an angel and dislike people with body odor.” _Especially the men stench._

Jennie honestly did not give a fuck about this game, but she had been bored by the answers she heard so far. _I suppose a little spice won’t hurt …_ “Hi guys, I’m Jennie.” She gave a tight-lipped smile and did a mini wave. “I like people who can be so innocent at times that you question whether they are just five years old, but the next minute they can be oozing so much sex appeal that I would want them to rip my clothes off. On the other hand, I dislike self-righteous assholes who would tell me that they care about me but never show their faces.”

“That’s oddly specific …” Ashley gave Chaeyoung a questioning look, and the other girl just shrugged with a small smile.

Jisoo was trying hard not to laugh at some of those expressions of horror sitting on the opposite side of the table after listening to Jennie’s declaration. She has always known that Jennie got balls, but it never got old to see that HBIC aura emanating from her actions.

When it was Lili’s turn, she kept looking over at Jennie, unsure of whether to tell the truth. Last thing she wanted to do was accidentally ruining Jisoo-unnie's chance with Chaeyoung, but she also did not like lying about her love for Jennie. “I’m Lalisa, and I like people …” She looked down in her lap to hide her blush. “… like Jennie-unnie.”

Jennie reached over to squeeze Lili’s hand under the table. “I think Lalisa here has got a little crush on me, how nice.” When Jennie broadcast information in that in-your-face manner, it actually steered the church boys’ minds away from the romantic kind of crushes. “And I’m going to guess Lalisa here dislikes people who are basically not me, is that right?”

Lili nodded fervently, glad that she did not have to come up with something else to say. While she was confident that she could spit out pick-up lines like no other, situations like this when she had to pretend to be someone else was very difficult.

As some of the church boys chuckled at Lili and Jennie’s banter, Chaeyoung looked on with mixed feelings. While she personally shipped Lili and Jennie together, she also knew that some of the people in her church would find their dating unnatural and ungodly. She had also noticed that Lili had been keeping her hands to herself all day whereas normally she would be clinging onto Jennie or acting as if they were joined on the hips. On one hand, she had enjoyed the company of her friends attending church service with her, but seeing them restricting some of their normal behavior had also been heart-clenching.

When it was the guys’ turn to introduce themselves, most of them had tried to make eye contact with Jisoo, finding her the most approachable of the new girls at the table. Chaeyoung found their attempts to make Jisoo laugh particularly grating on her nerves. 

Jisoo did not want to leave a bad impression in front of Chaeyoung’s church friends, so she tried to give friendly reactions to all the jokes told by the guys that were actually not funny. Little did she know that these seemingly harmless reactions had been adding frown lines on her angel’s face.

The ever-observant Jennie was finding the whole exchange utterly amusing. She was sure Jisoo was not doing this on purpose, but it was clear to her that Chaeyoung did not harbor plain platonic feelings for the older trainee.

When the baskets of fried chicken arrived at their table, and everyone was busy digging in, Ashley gave Chaeyoung a quick nudge when she noticed one of the guys – David covering Jisoo’s hand when they tried to reach for the same piece of chicken. Ashley whispered into Chaeyoung’s ear, “This luncheon is going well, don’t you think? Your friend Jisoo might go home with a boyfriend today.”

_Ew, this David-cop-a-feel?_ Chaeyoung hated the idea of Jisoo dating one of her church friends. “Ashley, let’s not push it too much, okay? As YG trainees, we are not supposed to be dating anyone anyways.”

“Do you always follow the rules?” Ashley challenged.

Chaeyoung wanted to laugh at the irony of it all, for such a question to be coming from Ashley, whom she had always considered as one of those people who lived their lives according to the bible to the T. “For the right person, I might consider breaking some.” Her gaze inadvertently felt drawn to Jisoo. When she saw some chicken grease dripping down Jisoo’s chiseled jawline, all Chaeyoung could think about was reaching out to wipe the grease away with her thumb then licking it off. _Would Jisoo-unnie hate me if she knew I have these impure thoughts about her?_

Eventually the luncheon came to an end, and the YG quartet said goodbye to all the church people as everyone started to scatter.

“Chaeyoung, wait up.” David grabbed a hold of Chaeyoung’s arm and pulled her aside for some privacy. “Could you ask your friend Jisoo if I could have her number? She’s really cute, and I’d love to know her better. But I’m a bit shy to ask her directly.”

“Oh …” Chaeyoung was speechless. 

“You’re the best. I’ll see you next week in church. Text me her number when she gives you permission!” Without waiting for Chaeyoung’s reply, David already started jogging back to some of the other church boys.

Once the girls have walked two to three blocks away from the restaurant, Jennie and Lili were quick to excuse themselves hand-in-hand, preferring to spend the rest of Sunday on a romantic date. Jennie had pulled Jisoo into a quick hug before she took off. “Unnie, come to my room tonight. I got some good news for you.”

Jisoo was not sure what Jennie was about to tell her, since all she did during lunch was fake-laugh at some dumb jokes. In any case, she would much rather focus on her current alone time with Chaeyoung.

It was Chaeyoung who broke the silence first during their walk back to the YG dorm. “Jisoo-unnie, what do you think of David?”

Jisoo tried hard to think back to the ice-breaker game to match the name with a face. “He’s the guy that sang on stage with you, right? He was quite good.”

_Angelic voice, check._ Chaeyoung felt disheartened. “He asked me if I could give him your number. I think he likes you.” 

“Good.” _That means he doesn’t like you. One less competition for me!_

“Good?” Chaeyoung could not control the irrational thoughts of David and Jisoo in formal wedding attire walking down the aisle. She closed her eyes tightly against the prickling of tears. 

Jisoo’s voice was soft as she mused to herself. “What’s a Christian way to turn people down? Do you just dump holy water on their heads or something?”

Chaeyoung let out a loud guffaw, a sense of relief washing over her. “How about I send him a holy text message instead?”

A couple miles away, David reached into his pants to pull out his phone when it vibrated with a text message. _Chaeyoung must have gotten me that number!_

**14:15**

**Chaeyoung: Hi David, the good news is that Jesus loves you, but the bad news is that Jisoo doesn’t. See you in church next week!**

* * *

***Knock knock***

Jennie was rubbing her eyes as she opened the door to Jisoo. “I didn’t expect you to come so late at night. Lili tried to stay awake for you but she already fell asleep an hour ago.”

“Sorry, I lost track her time hanging out with Chaeyoung.” Jisoo replied sheepishly.

“Oooooh, are we getting somewhere? Do tell and come on in.”

“You promise your wild girlfriend won’t maul me like a lion for disturbing her sleep?”

“I heard that.” Lisa kicked off her blanket and moved to the door with a wide leap.

Jennie chuckled before turning around to hug her night-time lover. “Don’t worry, Jisoo-unnie. I’ll protect you. I called you here in the first place, remember?” Her eyes never leaving Lisa’s as she gingerly fixed the younger girl’s hair.

“It’d be much more convincing if you look me in the eyes and say that to me.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Jennie replied in a sing song voice while putting her hands up in surrender mode, and immediately Lisa’s stare towards Jisoo turned cold.

“Okay, okay, keep your hands on your woman then!” _Jennie would make a great animal tamer one day._

Jennie led Lisa back to bed while she motioned for Jisoo to take a seat at the study desk. After making herself comfortable situated between Lisa’s long legs, leaning back as if sitting on a throne, Jennie finally got on with her big reveal. “Well, all I want to say is that congratulations, Jisoo-unnie. I think Rosie likes you too.”

“On what grounds?” Jisoo could not believe this. The whole day she had been spending time with Chaeyoung, and not once said did the other girl say anything about liking her. “You’re not just saying that to make me happy, right?”

“Are you calling Jennie a liar?”

Jennie could feel Lisa’s muscles tense up around her. “Babe, relax.” She bent her neck back to place a kiss on Lisa’s cheek. “Jisoo-unnie just doesn’t want to get her hopes up too soon.”

“So … there is hope for me?” The corner of Jisoo’s mouth slid upwards.

“You should have seen the way Rosie froze up whenever that David guy tried to get your attention.“ Jennie chortled at the memory. “I’m not telling you to confess your undying love to Rosie now, but if you just let things naturally progress, I’d say the odds are in your favor.”

“Happy now, Jisoo?” Lisa shook her head at Jisoo’s expression of wonder. “Now leave my room and go enjoy your honeymoon.”

“Yes, m’am.” Jisoo saluted off the girls and did an about-face towards the door.

***Knock knock***

Jisoo cocked her head back at Jennie quizzically. **“** Are you expecting more lovesick trainees at this hour? Has your next appointment arrived?”

**“** What, you think I run a love clinic here?” Jennie furrowed her brows.

Lisa felt like she was about to lose it. _Does the whole world want to cockblock me today?_

***Knock knock*** “Jennie-unnie, Lili, it’s me.”

The three girls inside exchanged looks of panic, the angelic voice behind the door leaving no doubt in their minds the identity of its owner.

Jennie whisper-shouted at Jisoo. “Quick, hide in the closet!” 

Jisoo did not need to be told twice before scrambling towards the wooden sanctuary.

“Stay here, babe.” Jennie got off the bed and opened the door for Chaeyoung. “Rosie, what’s wrong?”

“I can’t sleep …” Even though Chaeyoung was the one seeking out the girls in the room, she suddenly found it difficult to look them in the eyes. “Something has been on my mind all afternoon, and I just really need to talk to someone about it.” 

Normally Jennie would be glad to help out Chaeyoung, but things were just too complicated when both Lisa and Jisoo were here too. “It’s pretty late now. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“It’s about Jisoo-unnie.”

“Oh …” _If I turn away Chaeyoung now, she may never have the guts to open up to me again._ “Do you want to come in?”

Chaeyoung nodded and unknowingly sat down at the exact same spot that was just occupied by the person in her mind a few minutes ago. She took a deep breath to prepare herself for exposing a secret that would shake the foundation of the quartet’s friendship. “I think Jisoo-unnie … has a crush …”

Lisa could not help rolling her eyes from her bed. _Just out with it already and call it a night. You girls clearly have a crush on each other._

“… on you, Jennie-unnie.” 

_What?!?!_ Three minds were blown simultaneously. 

The night is young indeed …


	12. The one where confessions were made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Show has inspired me to update my story on a weekday. The power of BlackPink!!

Lisa was the first one to react to the most shocking news of the century. “What exactly did Jisoo do that would make you come to this interesting conclusion of her crushing on Jennie?” She stole a glance at the closet that currently housed the culprit of this outrageous misunderstanding.

  
Even through the wooden barrier, Jisoo could feel the underlying anger vibrating from Lisa’s question. She honestly would not be surprised if Lisa’s hidden dagger suddenly hit her on the forehead. _Is this how my life will come an end, inside a closet? Is God so cruel that my death will forever be remembered as some gay irony?_

  
Amidst the awkward revelation, Chaeyoung looked at Lisa curiously, never expecting that type of tone to come from someone who in her mind was the most innocent soul she knew. 

  
Already situating herself back at her makeshift human-shaped throne that was Lisa, Jennie seemed to sense Chaeyoung’s confusion and tried to get the pink haired girl’s attention back on her. “I’m sure there has been some misunderstanding, Rosie. Jisoo-unnie has always been very supportive of my relationship with Lili.”

  
_There it is again._ Lisa tried not to let that pain from being stabbed in the heart shown on her face. Her head understood that this was how things should go, where Lili would the one for the world to see, but her heart ached every time Jennie did not acknowledge her in front of others.

  
As if admitting defeat, Chaeyoung shook her head dejectedly. “Jisoo-unnie and I were hanging out in her room the whole afternoon, and we talked about many things. Jennie-unnie, your name would pop up every other sentence. It’s like you were all Jisoo-unnie could think about.”

  
_What the hell?_ Jennie frowned at the absurdity of Jisoo secretly harboring romantic feelings for her. “Could you give some specific examples of how my name was mentioned?”

  
“Maybe ...” Still annoyed with Jisoo, Lisa helpfully chimed in. “... Jisoo is a loner, and Jennie is the only one worth referencing in her life.” 

  
_What kind of image are you putting in Chaeyoung’s head, Lisa???_ Jisoo had wanted to burst out of the closet to defend herself.

  
Chaeyoung was again surprised by the acerbic jab coming from Lisa. Sure she had witnessed the horse playing between the same-proclaimed crackhead duo, but it had always been harmless fun. “Lili, please don’t be mad at Jisoo-unnie. I’m sure she couldn’t help it since Jennie-unnie is really attractive as you know.” Recalling her conversations with Jisoo to answer Jennie’s question, Chaeyoung continued, “Like when we were discussing what music we have been listening to lately, she started talking about your jaw-dropping performance of Sure Thing in class.”

  
_But it was such a good song!_ A frustrated Jisoo pressed her face closer to the closet door.

  
“That’s when I serenaded Lili.” Jennie grinned fondly at the memory. “I don’t think you need to read too much into this. It’s just a song.”

  
“We also brought up the charm battle again, and even though I was able to turn her into a tomato with my pick-up line, she argued that you won the battle hands down, even though Lili barely reacted.”

  
_Because Jennie literally knocked out Lili, even though you couldn’t tell!_ Jisoo put up her hands in an exasperated manner for no one to see.

  
“Well now, we are all entitled to our own opinion on who won.” Jennie smirked. “It’s just a silly game. Don’t take it too seriously. Most important thing is - Rosie-ya, I already have Lili. There is no room for Jisoo-unnie in my heart.”

  
“But that’s the thing. Jisoo-unnie had let it slip more than once that you have more than one girlfriend, so she could have just put herself on the waiting list if you are open to dating people other than Lili.” Throwing a worried look towards Lisa after addressing Jennie, Chaeyoung was not sure if the younger girl already knew this piece of information.

  
Lisa’s eyes widened in surprise. She knew she should be mad at Jisoo for accidentally spilling her secret, but the unintended outcome of being indirectly acknowledged as Jennie’s girlfriend had also brought her solace. 

  
_I’m so dead!!!_ As Jisoo could not see Lisa’s oddly serene reaction, she was having an internal crisis moment inside the closet. 

  
Deep in thought, Jennie pinched the bridge of her nose, weighing the pros and cons of telling the truth. “Rosie, I have a confession to make.” She turned her head to look back at Lisa, who gave her a subtle nod, as if giving consent. Pulling Lisa up from the bed, the two of them walked closer to where Chaeyoung was sitting. “I would like you to properly meet my other girlfriend.”

  
Lisa smiled gently at Chaeyoung with her hand out-stretched. “Nice to formally meet you, Chaeyoung. I actually met you once already in the cafeteria.” 

  
“Lili, what are you talking about? This is a joke, right?” Chaeyoung looked between Jennie and Lisa, waiting for that **gotcha** moment that never came.

  
“It’s Lisa actually. I’m not Lili, even though we share the same body.”

“It’s true, Rosie. I’m only telling you this now because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about me randomly dating other people. My heart belongs to Lili and Lisa only and nobody else, not even Jisoo-unnie, who is more like an older sister to me anyways.”

Chaeyoung went to shake Lisa’s hand, not wanting to appear rude even though there were still so many questions she wanted to ask. “So Lisa, how much do you know about me? What do you mean you met me before?”

“I know as much as Lili knows, since I can access her memory, but it doesn’t work the other way around. The other day at the cafeteria when you were playing the charm battle, I accidentally switched places with Lili mid-game, so I actually spoke with you right before Jennie dragged me back to our room to …”

“Babe, TMI!” Jennie covered Lisa’s mouth with her hands in a panic. _One secret at a time! Rosie doesn’t need to know how I can turn into a horny teenager in front of Lisa._

Chaeyoung thought back to that day when Lili was suddenly acting strange. “So that’s why Lili sounded different …”

“And that would also explain why Jisoo-unnie marked me as the winner of our little game, since the impact of my pick-up line actually made Lili lose consciousness,” Jennie said somewhat smugly.

“Wait, Jisoo-unnie knows about Lisa already?” 

“She walked in on me and Lisa a while back, so I had to explain the situation to her too. The point is, I swear Jisoo-unnie doesn’t have a crush on me.”

_Yes, you tell her, Jennie!_ Jisoo did a mini-cheer in her solitary confinement. 

Relief washed over Chaeyoung at Jennie’s reassurance. Now she felt silly for interpreting things all wrong the whole afternoon. With her issue with Jisoo resolved, Chaeyoung regarded Lisa more closely from head to toe. “To avoid confusion in the future, why don’t you make up another nickname for me so that I can tell you and Lili apart more easily?”

“You got it, Chaeng.” Other than calling Jennie her princess, Lisa had always addressed other people in her life with their proper names and title. Being asked to call Chaeyoung by a nickname had evoked a foreign feeling in Lisa, but she didn’t hate it.

“Thanks, Lisa. I like this new nickname.” Chaeyoung smiled sweetly at Lisa, happy to have made a new friend. “But quick question, does Lili know about you?”

  
Lisa shook her head sadly. “Our parents had a terrible accident a few years back, and I’m the one holding the tragic memory of their deaths. I’m essentially Lili’s pain personified, and I don’t want to expose Lili to all those negative feelings ever again.”

  
“Well, it’s been a few years, and I’m sure Lili has grown up since then. I don’t think running away from pain is a good long-term solution. Lili probably will feel like a part of her is missing. Who knows, maybe Lili is mentally stronger than you think and is ready to meet you?” Chaeyoung looked over at Jennie for confirmation.

  
Even though Jennie could essentially order Lisa to do whatever she wanted, when it came to serious matters of the heart, she did not want to push. “Babe, in case you want to give reaching out to Lili a try, I do have an idea how to go about this. But no pressure, okay?”

  
Giving Jennie’s a hand a thankful squeeze, Lisa turned to Chaeyoung. “I’d think about this, Chaeng. I understand where you were coming from.” In truth, Lisa had indeed imagined interacting with Lili at some point in her life. She just never thought Chaeyoung would be the trigger. Maybe even back when Lisa first laid eyes on her in the cafeteria, that instant feeling of closeness had already foreshadowed the special friendship that the two would share.

“I look forward to getting to know you better, Lisa. When we run into each other again in the future, don’t act like a stranger, okay?” Chaeyoung stepped forward and pulled Lisa into a hug.

“Deal.” A faint blush forming on Lisa’s cheeks, as the younger girl was not used to being close to anyone other than Jennie.

“That’s enough, Rosie. Hands off my girlfriend.” Jennie started doing some air judo chops on Chaeyoung’s arm that she learned from Lili. “If you want to get handsy, there’s always Jisoo-unnie.” 

“Jennie-unnie!” Chaeyoung blushed hard at the mental image of being close to her Jisoo-unnie. “Stop making fun of me. I’ll go back to my room now.”

“Bye, Chaeng. If you want to come find me, I’m usually here at late night with Jennie.” Lisa did not know what made her say that, but she had wanted to spend time with Chaeyoung again soon, the idea of having a friend still unfamiliar to her.

“Ah, good to know.”

“But don’t come in if you see a sock on the door knob.” Jennie quickly added, not wanting her future make-out sessions with Lisa to be interrupted.

“Even better to know.” Chaeyoung chuckled as she exited Jennie and Lisa’s room.

“Phew, finally.” Jennie pushed Lisa roughly down onto the bed, immediately attacking her lips.

Lisa’s mind was having a hard time processing when all her senses were focused on what Jennie was doing to her body. _I feel like I’m forgetting something …_

Jisoo busted out of the closet right on cue and coughed her lungs out immediately. “There I was running out of oxygen in your closet, and you girls could only concentrate on making out?” 

“Oopsie, Jisoo-unnie. Take as much oxygen as you need. It’s on me.” Jennie lifted her head from Lisa’s neck and stuck out her tongue at Jisoo in mock remorse.

“Aish, your libido is going to get me killed one day.”

Jennie rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to her sexy girlfriend. “Close the door on your way out, will ya?” 

“What else am I going to do, leave the door open and charge the other trainees for a peep show?”

“Jisoo.” Lisa’s stern voice immediately sent the temperature in the room down several degrees.

“Leaving now.” The door slammed shut after Jisoo’s hurried exit. _These youngsters can’t even take a joke anymore nowadays._

* * *

A few days later, Lili woke up to find a rectangular present neatly wrapped up on her study desk, addressed to her. Jennie had been called to Sajangnim’s office first thing in the morning, so this had been one of those rare mornings when Lili was not joined at the hip with her girlfriend. Lili could tell that the present was not from Jennie due to the unfamiliar handwriting. As she peeled away the wrapping paper, she saw that it was a fancy looking notebook with a Gemini logo of two girls facing away from each other. She flipped open the notebook to the first page, and saw a message written out in the same alien handwriting.

****

**_Hi Lili,_ **

**_  
This is your guardian angel. Please know that I will always love and protect you. From now on, whenever you want to talk to me, you can leave me a note in this journal._ **

**_  
With all my love, L_ **

****

Lili’s heart pounded loudly in her chest. She could not believe her eyes. _Wait till I tell Jennie-unnie about this. My prayer has finally been answered!_ She took out a pen and started writing on the second page of the journal.

**_Hi L,_ **

**_  
This is soooooo cool. I always knew that you were real. How old are you? Have you been watching over me ever since I was a baby? What do you look like?_ **

****

**_Thank you for protecting me all these years. Could I make a small request that you extend your protection to include my girlfriend Jennie-unnie also? She is the most important person in my life, and I wish to share your awesomeness with her._ **

**_  
I can’t wait to hear back from you._ **

****

**_XOXO, Lili_ **


	13. The one where Sajangnim got a crazy idea

When Jennie returned to the room, she found Lili sprawled out on her bed with a familiar looking journal in her hands. She had bought it on Lisa’s behalf the day before as part of her master plan to get her girlfriends talk to each other. _Well, as close to talking anyways_ ...

  
“Unnie, you will never believe what happened when you went to talk to Sajangnim. Do you remember the guardian angel I mentioned during our amusement park date?”

  
“What about her?” Jennie cocked her head, trying her best to act innocent and clueless.

  
“She speaks!!!” Lili jumped off the bed and started twirling around with the journal lifted above her head.

  
“Wow, really? What did she say?”

  
Lili suddenly got quiet as she hesitated reading out the message L left her in the journal. _Maybe I should ask L for her permission first_. “Hmmm ... ask me again in a few days?”

  
“So secretive.” Jennie squinted her eyes in a playful manner. “Don’t go having an affair with your guardian angel behind my back now.”

  
All blood drained from Lili’s face with the idea of herself betraying Jennie like that. “Unnie, I would never.” Lili went to cup Jennie’s cheeks, holding her gaze. “You know I can’t see anyone but you.”

  
Even though Jennie had no doubt about Lili’s dedication towards her, she still sometimes wondered if it made sense for her to keep going down the road of an idol with Lili, even if it meant numerous temptations along the way to tear her and Lili apart. _Especially after what Sajangnim said this morning_ ....

* * *

  
  
When lunch time came, the quartet once again settled down at their usual table. Jennie stared at her sandwich absent-mindedly, knowing that her appetite probably would not come back till she got Sajangnim’s message off her chest. “Hey, I have some good news and bad news to share.” The girls all put down their sandwiches to focus on Jennie, surprised by her solemn tone.

  
“Sajangnim was going over the trainee scores, and the four of us were chosen based on the best scores on dance, rap, vocal, and modelling. He wanted us to start having separate lessons together, away from the other trainees. He has also appointed me as the interim leader since I have the highest combined score across categories. We are scheduled to put on a performance for him next week.”

  
Cheers were heard around the table, no doubt they were now one step closer to debuting. Seeing Jennie’s uncharacteristically stiff figure, Jisoo wrapped an arm around the news bearer. “That’s awesome, Jennie! Why the constipated face?”

  
Jennie merely glared at Jisoo. “He was looking at Lili’s profile picture and he said he liked her unique masculine energy, so he wanted to try pushing for a girl crush concept with us ...”

  
“Uhm ... still not sure what’s the bad news.”

  
“... and Lili is envisioned to be the key girl crush persona. Basically, he wants fans to be able to ship Lili with any of the remaining girl group members.”

  
Chaeyoung looked at Jennie worriedly. “What does that mean, Jennie-unnie?” 

  
“It’s a license for Lili to flirt with all of us and dish out fan service.” Just the thought of her Lili showing affection to anyone but her is enough to send off her the deep end, even if it’s her girls Chaeyoung and Jisoo.

  
“Well, think of it this way, Jendeukie. Now you have me and Chaeyoung shouldering some of your burden for being on the receiving end of Lili’s cheesy pick-up lines.”

  
“I’m right here!!!!” 

  
That suffocating feeling in her chest was released as Jennie listened to the bickering between Jisoo and Lili. “Awwww .. hon. I still love you, even though you ARE cheesy as hell.”

  
Lili relaxed as she felt Jennie give her a knee a loving squeeze underneath the table. Even though Jennie seemed fine now, Lili knew what Sajangnim wanted from them would come back to bug Jennie sooner or later. _What could I do to change that man’s mind?_

* * *

  
  
**_Hi L,_ **

**_  
Sorry for the back to back message, but I need your divine guidance. Sajangnim wants me to flirt with Chaeyoung and Jisoo-unnie as part of our performance routine, but I know this is going to upset Jennie-unnie. Could you maybe change Sajangnim’s mind with your angel power?_ **

**_  
P.S. Would you mind if I tell Jennie-unnie about you? I think she wants to get to know you too._ **

**_  
Love, Lili_ **

* * *

  
  
When Lisa came to her senses, the first thing she did was searching Lili’s day time memory to locate their new journal, since Jennie seemed to have fallen asleep reading in her bed, and she could always wake up her girlfriend later after she has helped Lili.

  
**_Hi Lili,_ **

**_  
You asked so many questions, but you must also understand that we angels work in mysterious ways, so I will try to keep it brief. Your Sajangnim sounds like an asshole, and you should never do anything that will upset Jennie. Have you thought about why Sajangnim had this idea of you flirting with everyone to begin with?_ **

**_  
P.S. You can tell Jennie about my existence, but it’d be more fun to keep the content of our conversations between us, don’t you think?_ **

**_  
Love you back, L_ **

  
Lisa loved Jennie with all her heart, but she also knew how stubborn her savage girlfriend could get sometimes. Having a way to give instructions to Lili without Jennie’s knowledge might come in handy one day, in case she wanted Lili to ensure Jennie’s safety, even if it meant disobeying her. Closing the journal, Lisa made her way to the sleeping figure with stealth steps.

  
“Hmmm ... I love waking up to your sweet kisses, babe.” Jennie opened her eyes to stare adoringly at doe eyes looking back at her.

  
“A little birdie told me something happened during the day that was bothering you. Is there anything I could do to take your mind off those things?”

  
“You could start by taking off those offensive articles of clothing that you are wearing.” Jennie’s eyes darkened as her mind ran ahead to what was to come.

  
“Should I be offended for Lili? The way you talked about her favorite yellow bunny pajamas?”

  
“Oh yea? What are you gonna do about it?” 

  
Lisa leaned down next to Jennie’s ear to whisper, “Write a formal complaint message in the journal, telling Lili what a bad girl you have been ...” She bit lightly on the ear that had perked up from her hot breath. “Ask Lili to withhold kisses during the day.”

  
A loud smack on Lisa’s bottom. “You wouldn’t!” 

  
Lisa barely flinched as she was well-trained to withstand pain. “You’ve gotta hit harder than that to make me change my mind.”

  
“Oh, are we going that direction tonight?” _Look who’s the bad girl now._

* * *

  
  
_Why does my butt feel so sore?_ Lili frowned as she peaked under her blanket and found that her pajama pants have magically disappeared. She looked over at Jennie’s bed and saw that her girlfriend was still asleep, which was not surprising since the alarm clock said it was only 7:30 am _. Perfect time for me to check if L wrote back to me._ Lili reached under her bed to take hold of the journal that she hid there last night. 

To Lili’s delight, her guardian angel had indeed given her some vague guidance. She thought back to what Jennie had said regarding Sajangnim’s decision to put the four of them in a group. _Maybe some drastic actions are needed_ ...

  
By the time the alarm clock went off, Jennie awoke to find Lili writing in that new journal. “Are you writing an essay in there, honey?”

  
Without looking up, Lili jokingly replied, “How did you know my dissertation topic was going to be the Ancient History of Jennie-ism?”

  
Jennie revived her pillow missile attack at Lili. “Are you calling me old?”

  
Lili finally learned to dodge these flying projectiles with ease. “Never, Jennie-unnie is timeless like a goddess.” _Hey, that would make a great rap line one day!_

  
“Well, if I were a goddess, what would that make you?”

  
“Perhaps the human sacrifice with the sole purpose of being devoured by the goddess.” Lili replied cheekily.

  
“Oh my god, what’s up with that mouth of yours? You better not use that line on Rosie or Jisoo-unnie.”

  
With the conversation being steered towards their lunch topic yesterday, Lili had made up her mind on what she needed to do. “Unnie, I plan to go out with Chaeyoung this Sunday, so I’ll meet you after dinner back at the dorm?”

  
“Oh ... “ It’d be a lie to say that Jennie was not disappointed, since Sunday was usually the only free time they could go on dates, but she also did not want to seem like a clingy girlfriend. “Sure, have fun, and be safe.” _Does Lili want to spend more alone time with Rosie to prepare herself for our group performance next week?_

* * *

  
  
When night came, Jennie could not help but vent her frustrations to Lisa about Sunday’s lack of a date. “What if Lili is tired of going on dates with me, and wants to explore things with Rosie instead? I mean, Rosie is technically single and has sapphic tendencies.”

“Jennie, are you listening to yourself? This is Lili here we are talking about. Besides, I can assure you that whatever Lili decided to do on Sunday, it is with your best interest in mind.”

“Wait, you know what Lili is planning?” Jennie looked over at Lisa incredulously. “When I suggested you to open up a communication channel with Lili, I was not expecting you two to gang up on me by withholding information.” She crossed her arms with a pout.

  
“Have faith, princess. Give Lili some credit. That girl is head over heels in love with you. In my view, you might enjoy what’s to come.”

  
“MIGHT is obviously the key word here.”

“Just keep an open mind.” Lisa gave Jennie a quick peck on the lips. _Part of my job as Lili’s guardian angel is certainly to defuse bombs in her absence._

“I’m still mad at the both of you.” Jennie refused to surrender to Lisa’s hypnotic eyes, and turned her head to the side to stare at the wall instead.

Lisa could tell that there was no bite behind her girlfriend’s words, and Jennie’s action has left opened up a new territory for her to attack. Her kisses along Jennie’s neck were slow and languid, strategically placed to advance gradually into the older girl’s heart. _The things I do for my dear sister …_

* * *

Lili had asked Chaeyoung to meet up with her right after the Sunday church service. She had figured the other girl would know exactly where to go to get the task done.

“Lili, are you sure you want to do this?” Chaeyoung asked in front of the establishment that she frequented once a month.

“What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Jennie-unnie dumping your sorry ass?”

“Over this?” Suddenly Lili felt like she just went from 100% sure to 70% sure. “Jennie-unnie is not shallow like that …” 

“We’ve all heard stories about guys breaking up with their girlfriends over stuff like this, when they are suddenly not attracted to their other halves anymore.”

“Easy, then I’ll just have to make Jennie-unnie fall in love with me all over again.” Lili’s confidence was back at full force as she marched into the building with the mind of a soldier heading into battle. 

* * *

Since Lili was out with Chaeyoung, Jennie had asked Jisoo to go have dinner with her in the YG cafeteria. “So … everything good with Rosie since you escaped from the closet?”

“Ha … ha … very funny.” Jisoo stabbed at her tomato soup with a bit more force. “Everything was just peachy up until the moment your girlfriend asked her out on a date.”

It was one thing to have her doubts, but hearing it voiced out by Jisoo was a jab straight to Jennie’s heart. “Lisa said their Sunday gathering is innocent. Let’s not overthink it.”

“Are you trying to convince me or convince yourself?”

“Both, I guess.”

* * *

After dinner, Jennie had declined Jisoo’s invitation to hang out at her room, since she expected Lili to be back soon. As she got close to her dorm room, she could see light peeking out under the door. _Is Lili back already?_ She picked up her pace and hurriedly unlocked the door. _Who … is that?_

Jennie could see the back of a girl walking in a towel towards the bathroom, her long straight blond hair bouncing just below her wide bony shoulders. _Wait a minute, I know those shoulders._ “Uhm … honey?”

When the figure turned around, Jennie’s suspicion was confirmed.

“Unnie, you’re back!” Lili jumped into Jennie arms instantly. “I miss you so much.”

As Jennie’s arms circled Lili’s back by reflex, it was a strange sensation to feel blond hairs tickling her forearms. “You got …”

“HAIR EXTENSIONS!” Lili started turning her head from side to side to let her hair dance in the air. “I asked Chaeyoung to take me to the hair salon where she usually gets her hair dyed. When Sajangnim sees me next week, I doubt he’ll sense masculine energy. That way he won’t make me flirt with Chaeyoung and Jisoo anymore, right?”

Jennie knew Sajangnim’s evaluation on Lili went beyond just physical appearance, since he also mentioned their vocal coach gave rave reviews on Lili’s swagger during her rap performances. But seeing Lili so happy like she had just solved some big worldly issue like achieving world peace, Jennie did not want to burst her girlfriend’s bubble just yet. “Now we just need to give Sajangnim a kick ass performance next week so that he would keep us training in this group of four.”

“Leave it to me to choreograph something where we each take turns being the center.”

“I have complete faith in you, hon.” Jennie pulled Lili in harder, leaving no space in between their bodies.

Smiling into Jennie’s lush curly tresses, Lili was dying to know. “So unnie, do you like my new look?”

Jennie was not going to lie. Even though she had been hooked by Lili’s tomboyish look before, this feminine version of Lili had sent her heart beating even faster. _I guess I’m just a Lili-holic_ “Hmmm … I think I need a more thorough examination before I could make an accurate assessment.”

Lili stepped out of their embrace, and let her towel slowly drop to the floor. “Well, I was just about to take a shower. Would you like to do your examination there?” 

Jennie studied Lili with a predator’s unwavering attention as Lili walked backwards towards the bathroom at a leisurely pace. _When did my smol bean get so sexy?_

“Come in before the water gets cold.”

_Time for me to get ~~un~~ dressed for the occasion. _Jennie was more than happy to oblige.

* * *

**_Hi Lili,_ **

**_  
I think it’s a great idea for you to get hair extensions this Sunday. Better yet, why don’t you try to surprise Jennie with your new style? In case she doesn’t like it, Jennie seems most defenseless against your bare skin. You know what to do._ **

**_  
Your eternal advisor, L_ **


	14. The one where things started to get real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LiliFilm - The Movie ... I have no words. All I can say is I think it's time to insert some action sequence for Lisa in this fic.

When the time came for the quartet to showcase their group performance before Sajangnim and some of their coaches, Lili had fulfilled her promise of putting a choreography together that highlighted each of their strength, with an equal amount of spotlight given to each of the girls. Sajangnim seemed to have taken well the new blond look that Lili was sporting, judging by his look of satisfaction whenever Lili was dancing front and center. 

As the music finally came to a stop the exact moment the girls were striking their last pose, Sajangnim was the first to clap his hands, quickly followed by the other coaches. “Girls, that was a job well done. What you have showed me has completely changed my mind about how I had initially wanted to package your group. Jennie, great attitude as always when you performed. I especially like the energy you have with Jisoo and Lalisa. Jisoo, I know dance is not your forte, but your vocals had me captivated. Chaeyoung, no doubt you have powerful vocals, but I could see you overthinking some of your dance moves. Lalisa, you might just be the biggest surprise of all. Get ready to be a chameleon, because I can already see the potential of your gathering fanboys and fangirls alike. Keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing you perform again in your next evaluation.” 

The girls bowed to the audience and congratulated each other for getting through their first group evaluation.

Sajangnim turned around just before he got out the door. “One last thing. For your next performance, I want to see some sub-unit actions. Jennie and Jisoo’s Unnie-line versus Lalisa and Chaeyoung’s Maknae-line. Think about it.”

Jennie wanted to faint at the spot. _Argh, just pair me up with Lili already!_

* * *

**_Hi L,_ **

**_  
The group evaluation went super well today! Were you able to see us in action? Do angels dance in their spare time? Are you a good dancer?_ **

**_  
Happy Happy Joy Joy! Lili_ **

****

* * *

With a book in her hand, Jennie lounged lazily on her bed, peering over the edge of her book with no intention of actually reading. She could never get tired of the sight of Lisa working out in their room in the wee hours of the night. Sometimes she felt like a sketchy frat boy just shamelessly ogling her girlfriend’s athletic body, hugged by a black sports bra and form-fitting yoga pants. _This girl has got legs for days …_

Without looking up from her one-handed push-ups, Lisa’s voice startled Jennie out of her reverie. “Like what you see, princess?”

Instead of giving Lisa the satisfaction of admitting her favorite weakness, Jennie chose to reply with another question. “Lili never wondered why she magically had guns on her arms?”

It took Lisa a few seconds to realize Jennie was referring to her muscular biceps, but she did not let her temporary confusion affect the rhythm of her push-ups. “Lili probably just thought her muscles build easily through her dance training.”

Jennie looked over at Lisa enviously. “If only my body could automatically exercise itself while I was getting my beauty sleep.”

Lisa stopped her work-out, and stood up from the floor. “Is that a request, princess? Would you like me to work your muscles a bit while you’re sleeping?”

Being the sweet girlfriend, Jennie passed Lisa a water bottle she grabbed near her bed. “You mean like massage me to sleep? Babe, your hands are like god’s gift, and I think they serve a much higher purpose than just giving massages.” _The ways those hands could light my body on fire with the simplest touch …_

“My hands are here to smite down anyone who dares to hurt you.” Putting down the water bottle, Lisa dropped to the floor to initiate a new set of sit-ups.

“Way to kill the mood, Lisa. Do you ever get tired of training? It’s not like we are going to be in much danger living in the dorm.” Jennie plopped down on her back in frustration.

Sensing her girlfriend’s sour mood, Lisa sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees, knowing that she needed to explain herself more clearly. “I need to be prepared. Your father has already warned me about all his business rivals who may try to harm you in the future, even having me memorized all their faces as part of my training. If anything ever happens to you, Jennie, I swear …”

Jennie leaned over her bed frame to grab Lisa’s hand, causing the other girl to look back at her with solemn eyes. “Long ago, I’ve promised myself that I will not live in fear. Constantly looking behind my back is not the way I want to live my life. That’s what motivated me to learn how to fight and take care of myself. Babe, if something were to happen to me, it just means my time is up. Promise me that you will never blame yourself.”

Lisa stayed silent, because that was a promise that she was not sure she could keep.

“Lisa ...” Jennie’s glance shifted down towards their joined hands, anticipating an answer that might potentially break her heart. “Do you love me?” 

“Jennie,” Lisa shook her head. “You know that your father entrusted me to protect you.” 

“You are not answering the question.” 

“Because the answer is irrelevant. It doesn’t change my mission.” 

“So how we have been spending our time together, the way our bodies and our minds connected ... that meant nothing to you?” Jennie’s voice broke towards the end of her sentence, lips quivering as a wave of sadness washed over her. 

Lisa said nothing. She got up to press her body into Jennie’s waiting arms, hoping that her warmth could help her girlfriend understand whatever words could not convey. Words that Lisa did not dare to mutter.

“I’m gonna let you off the hook this time. But don’t think your hot body can keep using the same trick on me.” The air between them shifted to a mischievous one as Jennie let out a puff of annoyance, though a smirk was now resting on her face. 

Lisa took in a shallow breath, and slowly inched towards Jennie’s plump lips. “Maybe ... someday.” With a deep kiss, Lisa sealed her pledge to stay loyal to Jennie always, waiting for the day when she had the courage to say those three words that Jennie desperately wanted to hear.

* * *

It was Saturday night, and Jennie strangely found herself eating a milk ice-cream sundae opposite Chaeyoung. When the younger girl had first approached her in the afternoon suggesting them to sneak out past curfew to attend the soft-opening of a new ice cream shop near their YG dorm, Jennie’s first thought had been to grab Lili and Jisoo as well, but Chaeyoung had dismissed the idea right away, claiming that she wanted to make it up to Jennie for accidentally causing her emotional distress the previous week when she took Lili to get hair extensions. Jennie could guess the real reason was probably to have a heart-to-heart conversation regarding their shared unnie, but she was nice enough not to embarrass Chaeyoung on the spot, instead agreeing to the outing.

“Jennie-unnie, thank you for coming out with me. How do you like the ice cream here?”

“Rosie, I have a feeling there is something else you want to ask me other than ice cream flavors, am I right?”

Chaeyoung sighed. _I guess there’s no point beating around the bush._ “How did you realize what you felt for Lili and Lisa were more than friendly?”

“Honestly, it surprised me too, how quickly they saw through the tough act I normally put on, then taking up residence in my heart. Lili and Lisa have such different personalities. I think you can already guess which one is more yin and which one is more yang.”

“The hyperactive Lili has got to be yang.”

“You got it.” Jennie chuckled fondly as she thought about her favorite girls. “The way Lili and Lisa act around me are also very different, but both are masters at making me swoon. Lili is like a ray of sunshine that lights up every inch of my heart that may have been shrouded in darkness. Lisa, on the other hand, is like a lullaby that soothes my soul, her love for me so deep that it fills up any crevices in my heart that were punctured by self-doubt.”

“Wow, that’s so romantic.” Jennie had always come across to Chaeyoung as a strong-willed big sister with ambition and drive to make it big in the entertainment industry, but seeing her act so soft had been an illuminating experience, like peeling back the walls that Jennie had previously built up, one layer at a time.

“Your question … is this actually about Jisoo-unnie?”

Instead of admitting it verbally, Chaeyoung simply nodded with a faint blush. 

“I don’t have a magic 8-ball to tell you what you should do. You are the only one who understands your own feelings. But my advice is, just follow your heart and don’t worry about what other people think. You owe it to yourself to live your life to the fullest.”

“So do you think Jisoo-unnie likes me too?”

“It’s not my place to say anything about that, but I’ll leave you with one of my favorite bumper sticker quotes - The goods are odd, but the odds are good.”

“Hey! Jisoo-unnie is not odd!”

“So quick to defend her already, and you guys are not even girlfriends yet.” Jennie said teasingly.

“Aish, Jennie-unnie! I’ll go grab us some napkins from the cash register.” 

Watching Chaeyoung walk away, Jennie really hoped that she was being paranoid, because there were two men wearing sunglasses sitting at the back booth, pretending to not pay attention to them, but their eyes were also following Chaeyoung’s figure. Jennie’s sixth sense was tingling, having been trained to watch out for suspicious behavior of the people around her. When Chaeyoung got back to her seat, Jennie did not want to scare the other girl unnecessarily, but she knew she had to warn her. “Rosie, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Don’t look around and keep your eyes on me.”

Chaeyoung cocked her head at Jennie’s sudden serious tone. “What’s wrong, unnie?”

“We may have been followed. If we get taken away, do not fight back. I don’t want you to get hurt.” _It’s one thing to fight my way out on my own, but I can’t risk Rosie._

Chaeyoung’s shoulders started to shake visibly, having never encountered such situations in her life before. “I don’t want to die, unnie.” _I still need to tell Jisoo-unnie how I feel about her …_

Unfortunately, the two men in question had also taken note of Chaeyoung’s distraught demeanor. Not long after, Jennie looked defiantly at the sticky fingers that have clamped down on her shoulder from behind.

“Ladies, I need you two to come with us.”

Jennie swatted away the offending hand. “Get your fuck’in hands off me. I can walk myself. Rosie, let’s go.” Even if their lives were under threat, Jennie was not about to let these scumbags have the pleasure of seeing their target cower in fear. _I might hate my father, but I’m still his daughter – the heiress to the Kim underground empire._

Chaeyoung started to sniffle as she clung close to Jennie, the two girls now following one of the men out the ice cream parlor, while the other man walked behind them.

“Everything is going to be fine, Rosie.” _Lisa will come for us … I love you, babe._

* * *

**22:00**

**Jisoo: Lili, have you seen Chaeyoung? She was supposed to meet me in my room after getting some ice cream with Jennie, but she’s already 30 minutes late, and she’s not answering my texts.**

**Lili: Unnie, I can’t find Jennie either, and she’s also not answering me on her phone. I’m scared …**

Jisoo bit her lip hard as the reality of Chaeyoung and Jennie missing hit her. _The bitch might be scary but I need to go find Lisa now! Chaeyoung, I’m coming, please be okay …_ She rushed out the door and started sprinting towards Lili’s room. 

* * *

Putting down her phone, Lili slumped over her desk and stared hard at her journal, the chirpy message she last left for L now seemed mocking her in the face. She flipped to a fresh page with a shaky hand, her tear drops blemishing the emptiness before any ink drop did. _I don’t know what to do … When does L read my message? I need her now!_ “H … E … L … P … H … E … L … P …” The same four letters being repeatedly scribbled onto the page, each stroke with force, Lili’s despair seeping through.

A familiar feeling of numbness started to overwhelm Lill’s senses, first starting from the tips of her fingers and toes, then spreading quickly towards her heart. Usually Lili would imagine herself being submerged in water, letting the current gently cradle her body like a cocoon, making her feel incredibly safe. This time her mind fought to stay awake, and Lili found herself standing on top of a body of water, instead of underneath it. From a distance, she found a figure walk slowly towards her, each water ripple serving as a footprint. _Am I dreaming? She looks just like … me?_

The other girl stopped within an arm’s length from Lili, a kind smile plastered on her face. “You have no idea how many times I have imagined our first encounter, Lili.”

“L?” _Her voice is much deeper than mine_ …

“As much as I’d like to tell you more about myself, we do not have time today.”

Tears began to stream down Lili’s cheeks. “Yes! Jennie! She’s …”

Lisa took a step forward to shush Lili with a strong hug. “Lili, don’t worry. We’ll get Jennie back. Just leave it to me. Now let go.”

Lili closed her eyes and felt as if her body was melting into the other girl’s. _I believe in you, L._


	15. The one where Lisa came to the rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much BlackPink content on YouTube lately. Anybody watching Youth with You 3?

Lisa ran into Jisoo the moment she stepped foot out into the hallway. “Save it, I know.” She did a quick once over on what Jisoo was wearing. “Good, you are already wearing the appropriate outfit.”

  
Jisoo looked down at her black Adidas T shirt and black yoga pants, which happened to match Lisa’s form-fitting all black attire also. “Duh, we are sneaking out past curfew after all. Can’t wear a neon yellow jacket to attract some YG staff attention now, can we?”

  
“I was more thinking along the lines of blood doesn’t show up on black.”

  
Jisoo visibly gulped. _What have I gotten myself into now?_ “So how do we know where we are going?”

  
“I put a tracker inside Jennie. Just follow me.” Lisa took out her phone and punched in a secret password that allowed her to access a hidden app. A digital map popped up showing the streets of Seoul, with a blinking red light appearing at the lower right corner of the screen.

  
“Wait, a tracker? Where? How?”

  
“I said what I said. Now leave it.”

  
“You had Jennie swallow a tracker?”

  
“No, I didn’t.” A few seconds later, Lisa muttered in a barely audible volume. “But I did make the process as pleasurable as possible.”

  
Mentally scratching her head, Jisoo was imagining the different ways one could put a tracker in someone. “How could it be pleasurable? Did she climax in the process?” Jisoo was full on expecting Lisa to cuss her out on her crude joke, but the silent acknowledgement sent her eyebrows to the roof of her head. “Oh my god, you kinky motherf...”

  
“Does your family know you have a sailor’s mouth?” Lisa picked up the pace, not wanting the other girl to notice the heat spreading on her face.

  
“Oh please, I grew up with cops. I imagine that’s almost as bad as growing up in a gangster family.”

  
“Then I’m sure you and Jennie have a lot to talk about when we get her out.”

  
“What do you mean?”

  
Lisa abruptly stopped, causing Jisoo to almost run into her back. “There is something you should know about Jennie. It will not be fair for me to lead you into danger without a warning.”

  
“If this is about her coming from a rich family, I think I heard that from the gossip grapevine already.”

  
“That’s only half the truth. What might get you killed is the other half. Jennie’s father is indeed in a gang, one that is notorious for smuggling ancient artifacts.” 

  
“Are you sure you want to tell me this? Do you not remember I come from a family of cops?”

  
“I might not like you, Jisoo, but I know you won’t hurt Jennie intentionally. The question is, now that you know the truth, will you turn back or will you join me to save our girls?” Similar to the first time Lisa met Jisoo, she had her arm out-stretched to see if Jisoo would meet her half way.

  
There was no hesitation in Jisoo’s hand shake in response this time around. “I have always gone by my own moral code. People cannot choose the families they come from, and I won’t hold this information against Jennie. Personally, I am ready to cut down whoever took our other halves. I need to tell Chaeyoung how I really feel about her.”

  
A genuine smile spread across Lisa’s delicate features. “You will get your chance, Jisoo. Let’s go then, partner. Rest assured that we will make them pay.” Lisa once again picked up speed towards the location indicated by the flashing red dot, showing no fear of venturing into the unknown dangers that awaited them.

* * *

Jennie knew there was no point struggling against the ropes tying her to the chair, judging from the dozen of masked men guarding the warehouse. She tried to turn her head to look at Chaeyoung who was similarly tied up on a chair, the two girls sitting back-to-back. “Don’t be afraid, Rosie. Everything is going to be okay.”

  
A hoarse voice answered Jennie to her displeasure. “Are we sure about that?”

  
Jennie whipped her head around to the source. “Who are you? Just tell me what you want and get on with it.”

  
A man in his fifties stepped to the front as the guards parted like the red sea, a jagged scar marring the left side of his face from the corner of his eye to his chapped lips. “Just a friend of your father’s. You can call me Uncle Jin. He took something important from me a long time ago, and now I want it back.”

  
“Then why did you come for me? I haven’t seen my father for years, let alone possessing anything of value from him.”

  
“Your old man was too hard to track down. But my men caught wind of you as soon as you stepped foot in Korea ...” Jin hunched over to hover closer to Jennie at eye level. “Training to be an idol when you are the daughter of one of the most wanted men in Korea? What on earth are you thinking? People like us do not live under the spotlight. We are the nightmares that parents warn their children about.”

  
Chaeyoung’s eyes widened at the sudden reveal of Jennie’s family history. _Is that why unnie was able to stay calm when those guys approached us?_

  
Jennie disregarded the man breathing close to her face and instead turned to Chaeyoung. “Rosie, I’m so sorry you have to find out things about me this way. It’s okay if you don’t want to have anything to do with me later on.”

  
A hard slap across Jennie’s cheek made Chaeyoung choke back her response.

  
“Nobody ignores me.” Jin smiled indulgently at his handiwork. “Didn’t your father teach you any manners?”

  
Jennie sucked in a deep breath to assuage the sting on her face. “That slap is going to leave a mark. You’re going to wish you didn’t do that.” _Because Lisa will notice for sure …_

  
“Am I supposed to be scared by your empty threat?” Jin laughed menacingly, the sound he made amplified by the spaciousness of the warehouse. “Now tell me how to get in touch with your father.”

* * *

  
  
Lisa’s balled her hands into white-knuckled fists from her hiding place, with Jisoo crouched behind her. It had taken Lisa some time to assess how many assailants were in the perimeter and to come up with an attack plan to take them out discreetly one by one. But seeing her Jennie being slapped almost made her throw caution to the wind to jump at the big boss straight away.

  
Jisoo could feel the tension in Lisa’s body as she also cringed at the scene still 100 metres away from their spot. “Stay cool, Lisa. Stick with your plan.”

  
Lisa would never admit this out loud, but she was thankful to have Jisoo by her side at this moment, helping her keep a level head. “Jisoo, you stay back and let me do my thing. Only come out when I tell you it’s safe to do so.”

  
“Roger that. Don’t want to steal your spotlight from saving your girl.”

  
Lisa rolled her eyes at Jisoo’s playful comment. The older girl’s humor actually made her relax and she could feel her body suddenly become lighter. “You better pray that Chaeyoung doesn’t fall in love with me after seeing me in action.”

  
As Jisoo was glued to the floor, too shaken by Lisa’s words, Lisa saw that there was finally some distance between those men and the tied-up girls. She had been waiting patiently for this moment to start moving, trying to minimize the possibility of Jennie being hurt in the process of her rescue. With her first target in sight, Lisa had never been more grateful for her years of assassination training.

* * *

  
  
“Don’t make me have to teach you what to do, idiot!” Jin had stepped aside to take a call from a lackey that was having difficulty with the loan shark business. With the call settled, he turned back his attention to Jennie. “Young people these days ... Now where were we?”

  
“Do you really think I’m going to tell you anything useful? You think I’m stupid?” Even in captivity, Jennie had exuded an aura of royalty as she responded in a defiant tone.

  
“You are a smart cookie, aren’t you? Let’s see if you’ll talk when I let my boys have a bit of fun with your pretty little friend.” 

  
Chaeyoung felt her stomach drop at what Jin was insinuating, but bravely retorted nevertheless. “My parents are lawyers and they are going to sue your sorry ass till you lose everything.”

  
“Sorry to break it to you, sweet cheeks, but I happen to have tons of money and that means I can get away with everything.” Jin waved his hand in the air and motioned for his men to come closer. Two masked body frames in black suits approached him immediately, but he yelped when he saw one suddenly snapping the neck of the other. The man with the spinal cord severed dropped to the floor with a muted thud while the lone assailant marched on. Jin inadvertently took a step back at the unexpected turn of events. “Who are you?!?! Guards!!!”

  
The figure pulled off the mask to reveal an angelic face with an inscrutable countenance. Perhaps the only clue to her emotions was from the rough way she rotated her wrist and flexed her fingers. “I seem to recall you don’t like being ignored. Too bad none of your men is alive enough to come help you anymore.”

  
_Lisa!_ Hope bloomed inside Jennie’s heart as she saw the love of her life saunter towards them in measured steps. “I knew you would come for me.”

  
Jin suddenly pulled a pistol from his back, and raised his arm to aim at Lisa. “You young people never learn. Leave the chit chat till the end.”

  
One gun shot and Jin’s gun flew out of his hand. The lead bullet tore through the muscle of his forearm without warning. He staggered back in shock.

  
“Unnie!” A part of Chaeyoung had thought earlier that she would never see again the girl that had stolen her heart.

  
“Spoke too soon, asshole.” Holding a pistol aimed at Jin, Jisoo emerged from the shadows to hand the weapon to Lisa before quickly making her way to untie Chaeyoung and Jennie.

  
Jisoo turning out to be a great partner in crime was a pleasant surprise, especially given her police force family background, and Lisa found herself warming up to the older girl. _But first things first …_

  
Never in his fifty years of meddling in shady affairs had Jin imagine his life flashing through his eyes while surrounded by four teenaged girls. Instinctively he knew the girl who unmasked herself was the most dangerous of them all, and his life would hinge on her decision. “Lady, whatever you want, I can give it to you. You are probably a hired gun, right? Look, I will triple whatever my friend is offering you to save his daughter.”

  
“Bored now.” Lisa’s right hook connected with Jin’s face. “I usually like to keep my kills clean. But for you, I will make a messy exception.”

  
Jennie could hear each hit as it landed. Jin’s blood splattered out from the impact of Lisa’s fists. The bridge of his nose and cheekbones hammered into pulp.

  
“This … is ... for ... hurting ... my ... girlfriend!” Each word enunciated with a punch. When Lisa saw that the man had pissed his pants, she backed off and took out the gun she previously stashed in her belt.

  
“Wait, you can’t kill me. You are the good guys, remember?” 

  
“Wrong. I don’t believe in good guys versus bad guys.” Lisa responded coolly, the gun now aiming at Jin’s forehead. “There’s Jennie, then everyone else.” Right before she pulled the trigger, Lisa had felt a familiar presence from behind.

  
“I won’t let you be the only one with blood on the hands. We are in this together.” Jennie wrapped her fingers around Lisa’s and pulled the trigger for her, finishing off the man who dared to threaten her life and harm those important to her.

  
With practiced ease, Lisa took off the suit jacket she stole from one of the guards to wipe their fingerprints off the gun. “We should get out of here before the cops show up. Someone might have heard the gun shots.” Lisa’s eyes tried to search for Jisoo and Chaeyoung for the first time since she saw red with Jin, only to find her friends locking lips in happy tears.

  
Jennie followed Lisa’s gaze and noticed the girls also. “Guys, not to be a party pooper, but let’s take this back to the dorm.”

  
“Jisoo.” Lisa’s stern voice did the trick to separate the new lovebirds. She wanted to laugh at Jisoo’s deer-caught-in-the-headlight look, but kept a straight face regardless. “You did good. When did you learn how to use a gun?”

  
Jisoo quickly relaxed at Lisa’s surprised praise. “Hello? Grew up with a bunch of cops.” Jisoo rolled her eyes. “I know a thing or two about guns.”

  
Out of nowhere, Jennie walked over to Chaeyoung and slapped her hard on the arm.

  
“Owwww ... What was that for, Jennie-unnie?”

  
“Just checking.” Jennie shrugged. “I can’t un-see Jisoo-unnie barging in with guns blazing. If you have any hidden talents related to the art of violence, I would like to know.”

  
“Did it ever occur to you that maybe I’m just good at singing and dancing like a regular idol trainee?” Chaeyoung pouted.

  
Jisoo gently wrapped her arms around Chaeyoung’s midriff from behind. “Awww, don’t worry, chipmunk. If something happens again, I’ll protect you.”

  
“Should I pick up law on the side from my parents to help you guys stay out of trouble in the future?”

  
Jennie jokingly added. “If I ever form my own gang one day, you guys are so going to be in my inner circle.”

  
Chaeyoung squealed in excitement. “We are probably the only gang to run around in high heels too!”

  
True to the interim leader label placed on her by Sajangnim, Jennie got everyone to stick their hands out to meet at the center of their circle. “Girls, don’t get side-tracked. Our first goal is to debut together as a group, then we can talk about other side businesses.” 

  
Lisa furrowed her brows. “I hope you guys are not counting me in for your debut goal.”

  
“Babe, you are our honorary fifth member.” Before Lisa could protest, Jennie had leaned over to give her a peck on the lips to shush her. “Now 1, 2, 3, oh ...” The girls all felt invigorated by their low five, excited about how their lives would now forever be woven together.


	16. The one where Lili went MIA

**_Hi Lili,_ **

**_  
I told you I’d get Jennie back. :)_ **

**_  
Love, L_ **

  
Lisa signed off with a smug look, anticipating Lili’s reaction when she woke up. _I hope she’d be proud of me ..._

  
“Babe, it’s like 7 am in the morning, come to bed. All that kidnapping is seriously messing with my beauty sleep schedule. Plus, it’s snuggle time!”

  
Lisa put down the journal and turned towards her lover. After placing a feather light kiss on Jennie’s lips, she settled in their bed and pulled Jennie closer. “You are lucky it’s Sunday then. We can sleep the whole day if we want to. I’m sure that when you wake up, you are going to be the most beautiful girl in the world.”

  
Jennie mumbled as she succumbed to slumber. “Thank you, my magic mirror.”

  
The Snow White reference was not lost to Lisa. “You’re welcome, my queen.”

  
All was well in the universe again ... or so it seemed. It didn’t hit Lisa that this was her first time going to bed at this hour, when the sun was already out.

* * *

  
When Lisa woke up, it was already dinner time. Usually when Lisa was sleeping, it had meant giving control of her body to Lili, so when she was awake again, she would have memories of what Lili was up to during the day. It had been a strange feeling for Lisa to regain consciousness while her mind was drawing a blank. Judging from how she was still entangled with Jennie in the same position as they went to bed, Lisa gathered that Lili had not woken up during the day. 

  
“Princess, wake up. Something is wrong.”

  
Jennie rubbed her eyes and yawned. “What time is it?” Before Lisa could answer, Jennie’s own stomach growling had caused both girls to chuckle. “I guess time to eat?”

  
“Sure, why don’t you text Jisoo and Chaeyoung to see if they want to join us for dinner? But what I wanted to tell you was that Lili didn’t wake up today.”

  
The information did not sit well with Jennie, but she tried not to let her concern show. “Babe, maybe she’s just tired like us. Let’s not over-think it. I’m sure I’ll see her again first thing tomorrow morning. Our next class is Taekwondo. Lili won’t miss it for the world. She had been so excited about learning martial arts.”

  
“Good, she is taking after me.”

  
“Honestly I like it better when I can at least beat one of you when I wrestle you in bed.”

  
“You mean like this?” Lisa was quick to pin Jennie’s arms over her head, hovering her lips just an inch above Jennie’s.

  
“Noooo, don’t kiss me. I haven’t brushed my teeth yet.” 

  
“As if I care. Even the plague couldn’t keep me away.”

  
Further protests from Jennie were stifled by incessant pecks. Dinner could wait.

* * *

  
When morning came, it was another first for Lisa, since she had never been woken up before by sun beams on the face, with natural warmth licking her skin. She looked over at Jennie’s bed, the feline-eyed beauty still fast asleep. Her mind was once again drawing a blank when she tried to access Lili’s recent memories. Lili had always been a constant in Lisa’s life. Now Lisa felt like swimming in the ocean without a life jacket for the first time. That feeling of uneasiness accompanied by dread of never knowing what solid soil felt like beneath her feet again. 

  
“Lili is still not showing up?”

  
It was rare for Lisa to be startled by Jennie. But the worrying thoughts about Lili had distracted her enough to be unaware of Jennie’s awoken state. Lisa shook her head in defeat. “This has never happened before. But I will find her, I promise.”

  
Jennie got up to pinch Lisa on the cheeks. “You better get my girlfriend back here in one piece. Quoting Lili, or none of you is going to tap this ass any time soon.” She joked to lighten Lisa’s gloomy aura, reminiscing about those off-the-wall pick-up lines that used to spew out of Lili from time to time.

  
“I hope Lili heard that.” For a split second, Lisa had imagined a disheveled Lili stumbling out of the closet, waving her hand around proclaiming she was here to get back in Jennie’s good grace. But of course she knew that was impossible. Sometimes Lisa wished she could split her body in half so that she could physically co-exist with Lili in the same place ...

  
Jennie’s voice snapped Lisa back to reality. “I don’t want Lili to come back just to find herself being kicked out of the YG trainee program for skipping classes. So you, missy, need to pretend to be Lili for the time being.”

  
“I believe you mentioned there is a Taekwondo class?” _This should be a piece of cake._

  
“Babe, remember. You are about to face YG trainees, not some crazy gangsters. You have to be super gentle in class.”

  
“Don’t worry. I’ll behave. But ... do you think you and I could do some intimate sparring at the dojang later?”

  
“Sorry, babe. On paper, you are not at my level yet.” Jennie took out Lili’s white belt and Taekwondo outfit from the closet. “Suck it up, newbie.”

  
“I’m deeply insulted.” Lisa squinted her eyes at the white belt being handed to her, and she wondered who was going to be the unlucky trainee that ended up being her punching bag in class.

* * *

  
“Holy mother of god, you are not Lili!” When Jisoo had first heard Instructor Yang pairing her with the other half of the crackhead duo, she had excitedly hopped over to where _Lili_ was standing, smacking her butt to make her presence known, only to be met with the coldest glare straight from the North Pole.

  
“Keep it down or lose your tongue, Jisoo.”

  
“Where’s Lili?”

  
Not wanting to worry the other girl, Lisa tried to brush it off in a nonchalant manner. “She wanted a day off. It’s that time of the month for her.”

  
“So now I get you as my sparring partner? Jesus, is the universe trying to come for me today?”

  
“You did good on Saturday night. Let’s see if you could put up a good fight with me.”

  
“Give me a gun and ask me again.”

  
“Sorry, it’s no weapons day.”

  
“Dude, your hands are your weapons. Unless you tell me you will fight with your hands tied to the back, forget it.”

  
“Alright. That seems fair.”

  
“For real?” Jisoo couldn’t believe her ears. A part of her had wanted to payback Lisa all along for all those threats she placed on her life. “You don’t mind if I smack you around a bit?”

  
“Pfft ... You could try.” Sticking with the challenge, Lisa put her hands on her back then took a bow, signalling Jisoo to start the fight.

  
Jennie furrowed her brows on the other side of the room, unable to focus on her own sparring match as she kept stealing glances at her girlfriend. _Why is Lisa’s pose like that? Gosh, with the way Jisoo is swinging her arm, even a baby could dodge that punch. Wait, Lisa is not dodging, she is ... Damnit, I told her to take it easy_.

  
Jisoo instantly fell on her back with a thud. “Why are there so many stars blinking on the ceiling ...”

  
Instructor Yang had witnessed the whole exchange from afar. “Girls, there’s no head-butting in Taekwondo!”

* * *

  
When the quartet regrouped over lunch, Lisa had given Chaeyoung the same menstruation reasoning to explain Lili’s absence. Since the next period was a special self-study class for just the four girls, Lisa had thought it would be a good time for her to excuse herself and retreat back to her bedroom, trying to search for Lili through meditation. But their peaceful lunch was disturbed by a broadcast.

  
“Attention, all YG trainees. Will Jennie Kim, Lalisa Manoban, Jisoo Kim, and Chaeyoung Park please report to the seventh floor?”

  
Jisoo was immediately having a word vomit moment. “Oh no, do you think this is about Saturday? I freak’in shot somebody. Worse yet, maybe it’ll be my brother showing up to take me away, and I’ll never see Dalgom again. My poor son is going to be an orphan. Who’s going to take care of him from now on? But my brother is allergic to dogs …”

  
“Breathe, Jisoo. Honestly that’s how people most get caught, accidentally confessing when there’s no evidence against them. You’re good at acting. Poker face, c’mon.”

  
Chaeyoung held Jisoo’s hand over the lunch table to calm down her girlfriend. “Unnie, maybe Sajangnim just wants to give us a new assignment. Stay positive!”

  
Carrying herself with the air of a leader, her body language subconsciously adopting the stance that her father used to take among his inner circle members, Jennie spoke with authority. “No matter what happens later, we have each other’s back. There’s no one I trust more with my life than the three of you.”

  
After an impromptu group hug, the four girls began to march towards their destination with their heads held high. When the elevator door opened to the seventh floor, Chaeyoung was the first to recognize the people present. “Oh my god, it’s Will Smith and Jayden Smith standing next to Sajangnim by the window.”

  
“Girls, you’re here. I was just telling Mr. Smith the great talents we have here at YG, and he has asked we could put on a little show for him. So please get ready and meet at the dance room in half an hour. Just perform the group dance you showed me last week.”

  
_Lili, if you can hear me, get your butt out here right now! Your guardian angel needs some help here!_ Lisa awkwardly turned to Jennie with a grimace, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of singing and dancing in a performance setting. 

  
Jennie knew there was no way they could back out of Sajangnim’s order in front of such an international superstar, so the best she could do right now was just to accept the challenge. “Certainly. We will get ready right away. Girls, let’s go.”

  
The quartet excused themselves and started to head back to their respective rooms to change to the performance outfits. Before they split up, Jisoo had grabbed Lisa by the elbow to get her attention. “Tell Lili that it’s show time. Take some pills to get her cramps under control if needed.” 

  
Lisa had merely nodded, not sure if she could promise Jisoo anything. When she got back to her room with Jennie, she was just going through the motion of putting on form fitting black tops and pants that showed her firm midriff without an ounce of excess fat. In her head, she had kept calling out to Lili, but it was like yelling into a bottomless well, only her desperate voice echoing back.

  
“Babe, anything from Lili?”

  
“It’s like she’s avoiding me on purpose.”

  
Jennie felt her heart sink at Lisa’s reply, but time was running out. “Then do you know our dance?”

  
“Watching a dance performance is nothing like dancing the actual show.” Lisa had remembered all the times she had been in awe of Lili’s dancing during the day, wondering if Lili was the reincarnation of the goddess of dance.

  
“Well, you said it before that since you and Lili share a body, your muscles have already learned the moves, so just let your body do the work for you. But also just to give you some professional advice, pay attention to the expression on your face too. Make a decision on what type of emotions you want to convey to the audience.”

  
“What does Lili’s facial expression look like when she is performing?”

  
“Pretend you are an executioner then. You are here to slay the performance.”

  
“Okay, I like this line of thinking. Killing, that I can relate.” Trying to get back a sense of normality, Lisa flexed her wrists and fingers as if she was about to put the moves on a kill target.

  
“Knock them dead, babe.” Jennie blew Lisa a kiss, then opened the door. “After you.”

* * *

  
With the four girls standing still at the starting pose, Lisa tried to reach out mentally to Lili for one last time. _Lili, I don’t know if you’re mad at me or what, but please help me put on a good performance. Do this for Jennie._ At the mention of Jennie’s name, Lisa could feel details of the dance bleeding into her mind. She had had a similar experience when she was threatening Jisoo at their initial meeting, where Lili was trying to influence her to be nicer to the older girl by inserting images in her mind. _Thank you, Lili. We need to talk, but after we kill this performance._

  
The dance went smoothly to the girls’ content. Jennie had initially been worried about the part with Lisa taking the center spot, but the rapping had been on point as if Lili was part of the performance too.

  
“That was fly, ladies. Let me know when you guys make it to the states one day. We could do something together then.” Will clapped along with the others, and the girls were touched to hear his kind words.

  
When Sajangnim and Will were talking amongst themselves, Jayden had approached the girls, but zooming in on Lisa. “Hey, your name is Lalisa, right? Great job out there. Can I get your number?” 

  
It was Jennie who actually replied. “Sorry, we are not allowed to date. But please do follow us on our official social media accounts once we debut.” She then quickly pulled Lisa away, physically increasing the distance between them and Jayden’s longing look. _I’m going to keep Lisa for myself for as long as I can. Step aside, fanboy._

* * *

  
For putting on such a great show in front of the guests, Sajangnim had given the girls the rest of the day off. Jisoo and Chaeyoung took it as a cue to go on a haphazard ice cream date. Meanwhile Jennie and Lisa had gone back to their room, with Lisa determined to follow her original plan of meditation to get through to Lili.

  
Lisa had imagined herself back at the calm body of water when she last ran into Lili right after the kidnapping took place. After walking steadily on top of the water for a few minutes, Lisa saw a figure lying on the side in a foetus position. “I finally found you, Lili.”

  
Lili did not move, but she decided to acknowledge Lisa’s presence. “Hey L. Or should I say Lisa?”

  
At the sound of her real name, Lisa knew she had to come clean. “You saw everything through my eyes this whole time, Lili?”

  
Lili nodded with a sad smile. “I am happy to see that everyone is alive and well. Actually I didn’t know that everyone already knows who you are. I mean, even Jisoo-unnie and Chaeyoung? You guys must think that I’m too stupid to know the truth.”

  
“Lili, I can explain …”

  
“You blended in so well in my life, and what’s more, I could tell that Jennie-unnie really loves you.”

  
“Just as much as she loves you, Lili. Do not question Jennie’s love for you.”

  
“Lisa, Jennie needs someone who can protect her at all times. Who knows when the next kidnapper will appear?”

  
“Shouldn’t Jennie have a say in who she needs?”

  
“I don’t want to talk anymore.”

  
“Wait!” As if the law of gravity suddenly came back in full force, Lisa saw Lili’s body rapidly sink below the water to depths that she could not reach.

* * *

  
When Lisa opened her eyes, she saw Jennie’s expecting eyes staring straight back at her. 

  
“Babe, did you talk to Lili?”

  
Lisa dipped her head, ashamed for being the reason of Lili’s absence. “Jennie, Lili doesn’t want to wake up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this my attempt at angst? That's just the mood of the week.


	17. The one where Lili and Lisa set some ground rules

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel blessed with Lisa's Youth with You 3 moments ...

“What do you mean she doesn’t want to wake up? Doesn’t she know that I’m worried sick about her?” Jennie did not care that she was starting to sound hysterical if it meant Lili could hear her.

  
“Remember how I told you there was like a one-way mirror that separates me and Lili’s consciousness? I think when she tried to reach out to me forcibly right after you were kidnapped, she broke the mirror in the process and saw everything that happened when I was in control of our body.”

  
“Oh ...” Jennie was taken aback by the sudden turn of events, trying to wrap her mind around the implications. “So ... she saw you rescue me, which was good. But ...”

  
“Lili also saw our interactions with Jisoo and Chaeyoung, so she is a bit upset about them being in the loop all along. But most importantly she saw how you and I act when alone together, and you know ...”

  
“Damnit, that’s not how I want Lili to find out.” Jennie bit down on her thumb and started to pace around the room. 

  
“When Lili realized you have feelings for me, she thought it would be better for me to be with you all the time to protect you.”

  
Of all the things that Lili could be mad about, Jennie was caught off guard by the fact that it was Lili’s protectiveness over her that made her choose to disappear. _I should have known ... that is Lili we are talking about._ “Do you think Lili can hear me now?”

  
“I think it’s worth a shot.”

  
“Lili, honey? If you can hear me, are you just going to walk away from debuting? You have worked so hard to get to where you are today. I can’t wait to show the world what Lalisa Manoban is made out of. I won’t let you give up on your dreams.”

  
Lisa could feel some prickling on the edge of her consciousness, so she motioned for Jennie to keep going. _It’s working!_

  
“If you are worried about my safety, I need to drill into your thick skull that I do the protecting in our relationship. I won’t let some faceless baddies come between you and me. We made a promise to take on the world together, remember?”

  
There was a sudden surge of warmth enveloping Lisa, which Lisa took as a good sign. Just because she was a better fighter than Jennie, sometimes she also forgot that Jennie was capable of putting up a good fight on her own.

  
“And speaking of promises, you know how many times you made me do pinky swears with you? If you are not interested in fulfilling any of your promises, I might need to start chopping some fingers off.” Jennie cracked her knuckles to make her threat that much more convincing.

  
Ultimately it seemed to be the tough love talk that broke Lili out of her shell, because Lisa had started to feel numb which happened whenever Lili wanted to take control of the body as the dominant personality. She grabbed Jennie and mouthed the words - _Lili is coming_ , before closing her eyes and relinquishing control.

  
 _Please come back to me, Lili. I can’t lose you_... The bedroom had taken on a minute of silence as Jennie waited with bated breath.

  
“... Unnie?”

  
There was no question whose voice that belonged to. Lili was met with a bone-crushing hug.

  
“Don’t you ever do this to me again!” Tears flowed freely down the side of Jennie’s face. Jennie did not let many things get to her, to the point where sometimes she wondered if the blood that flowed in her was warm at all. But getting Lili back after thinking that she might have lost her forever? That was a strong enough shock that crushed the walls that Jennie had erected over the years.

  
Lili let herself sink into Jennie’s embrace. The two of them had stayed that way for some time. Lili did not dare to break away until she could tell that Jennie had her breathing back at normal pace. “So ... do I get to keep my fingers?”

  
“Yes, I’ve got big plans for them.” Jennie took hold of Lili’s hands and kissed the tip of each digit one by one. “Judge Jennie orders 100 hours of labor-intensive community service for these evasive fingers.”

  
“What kind of community service are we talking about?” Lili faked a troubled look, hoping to elicit a smile from the older girl.

  
“Judge Jennie is citizen one out of one in this community, and she needs to be serviced, period.”

  
“Unnie, you are so silly when you talk about yourself in third person.”

  
“I don’t know why you always bring this out of me. You must have infected me with stupid.”

  
“Hey! That was ...”. Lili’s words were silenced by soft lips covering her own.

  
“Don’t worry, honey. It’s endearing.” Jennie ran her hands through Lisa’s blond locks lovingly. “You know I love everything about you.”

  
“I’ve missed you so much, unnie. The last few days ... you have no idea how devastated I felt when I thought you didn’t need me anymore.”

  
“Well, talk is cheap.” With a seductive smile, Jennie led Lili towards her bed. “Why don’t you show me just how much you miss me?”

* * *

  
  
Lili did not dream much. She also felt that it was probably because dreaming was for people who thought too hard or maybe had too many worries in their lives. But right now, she was pretty sure that she was dreaming, since she was walking on water again. Not too far from where she was, she could see a familiar figure sitting cross-legged on top of the water, her immobile stance resembling religious monks in their prayer mode, a sight not hard to find back in her homeland Thailand. Lili was trying to take lighter steps as she approached Lisa from behind, not wanting to disturb this image of peace.

  
“You missed Jennie’s G-spot earlier.”

  
The shocking words had caused Lili to trip on flat surface and land face first on the water. “Really??? You could have corrected me then!” 

  
Lisa extended her hand to help Lili get back up on her feet. “I didn’t want to freak you out by forcing your fingers to bend at another angle. Plus, it’s mentally taxing if our minds fight for control of our body at the same time.”

  
“Clearly you know a lot more about how our minds and body work than me. Actually, are we going to keep meeting like this from now on every time I sleep?”

  
“Seems that way, at least for now. You changed something since the day you sought me out here on your own. In the past, I never saw you being above this body of water.”

  
Now standing eye to eye opposite Lisa, Lili took the time to study her from head to toe, playing a game of I-Spy for all the birthmarks she knew of. “It’s almost like I’ve got a hidden best friend all along, like those kids with imaginary friends, except mine is super real since you’re here. Is it weird that I’m already calling you my bestie when I barely know you?”

  
Lisa chuckled warmly at the ramblings of the girl she would not hesitate to call a sister. “You’re not mad at me anymore?”

  
“I wasn’t really mad at you. I was just frustrated by the whole situation that I was the last to know the truth. You know how there were kids back in Thailand that used to call me a simpleton, thinking that I didn’t know what the word meant.”

  
“If it makes you feel any better, I lit dog poop on fire in front of those kids’ homes when you were sleeping.”

  
“You’ve been my guardian angel all this time? Seriously, how long have you been around?”

  
Lisa was just reminded that she still had not explained how she came into being since their parents’ accident, but a part of her wanted to selfishly enjoy Lili’s innocent and happy aura longer without tainting it with their tragic memory. “Long time indeed. I don’t remember. Must be getting old.”

  
“Please, you look my age.”

  
Lisa smiled and nodded, preferring to let the topic drop. 

  
“Okay, so going back to Jennie’s G-spot ...”

  
 _Why must I open my big mouth earlier?_ Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose, never in a million years expecting to give Lili a sex talk one day.

  
“To avoid missing it again next time, I was thinking, let’s set some ground rules about sharing our body.”

  
It still astonished Lisa sometimes how Lili’s mind could go 1000 miles an hour, making it hard to follow her train of thoughts. “I’m listening.”

  
“I love Jennie. You love Jennie. Jennie loves us. So sexy times should be fair game for all of us. I know you said it’s mentally taxing when we are both behind the metaphorical steering wheel, so how about we keep sharing our body the same old way, but just making an exception for these special activities?”

  
“I suppose there’s no harm in trying.”

  
 _I’m so smart! I just doubled sexy times with Jennie-unnie!_ Lili could not help but did a mini fist pump.

  
“While we are here to make rules, there is also something I want us to do whenever we meet here.” 

  
Lili was surprised by Lisa’s serious tone. “Yea sure, what do you have in mind?”

  
“I want to train you.”

  
“In bed?”

  
Lisa did not hesitate to physically smack some sense into Lili. “Keep your one-track mind under control. You’re the one who wants to protect Jennie better, right?”

  
When Jennie’s safety became the topic of discussion, all Lili’s playfulness was wiped clean instantly, replaced by an air of gravity.

  
Lisa continued. “Our body is already capable of doing great things. I’m sure you have encountered moments in the past when your body automatically reacted in a way that your mind couldn’t catch up.”

  
“Now that you brought it up ...” Lili thought back to the last few encounters she had with Ju that she had previously brushed off as just her dumb luck.

  
“I’m going to teach you the correct form to transfer energy. That way you will be able to fight off enemies that are bigger than you more easily.” Lisa started to demonstrate punches and kicks that are different from what they had been learning in Taekwondo classes, as her methodology had been leaning towards the lethal type, which would come in handy more so in life or death situations. “Here, you need to be more down. Okay, good. One more time.”

  
After a while, Lili had already lost count of how many punches she had thrown. Also, “one more time” was fast becoming the most hated phrase in her dictionary. “I know I’m not supposed to be tired in this spiritual form, or whatever you wanna call it, but could we please take a break?”

  
Lisa cocked her head in thought. “Do you want to wake up Jennie?”

  
“Ooooooh, great minds think alike!” 

  
The two shared a high-five, followed by the same cheeky smile that always drove Jennie wild.

* * *

  
  
Jennie could feel open-mouthed kisses peppering her neck. Turning her head to the side, Jennie glanced out the window and saw the sun setting. _I must have fallen asleep after Lili’s last community service assignment._ “Ready to pay your dues again?”

  
“Yes, my honor.”

  
Jennie’s smile froze. For the first time when staring up at her lover’s face, Jennie was not sure who she was talking to. Since it was day time, she had expected Lili to emerge. But Lili’s usual yellow Summer-liked aura had turned a color that she has never seen before, as if being in the middle of a grass field during Spring time.

  
The younger girl must have sensed her girlfriend’s confusion, so she jumped to explain. “We are both here. We made a pact to share control of our body when we are in bed with you.”

  
“Hmmm .. that sounds promising.” Jennie was more than happy to indulge herself.

  
**15 minutes later ...**

  
“Lili, do you feel that? Where, Lisa? That spongey tissue. Ohhhh, so that’s where it is.”

  
“Babe, honey, I don’t mind you guys comparing notes, especially when it comes to pleasuring me, but could you please do this in your head? All this talking to yourself is so distracting, and I’m starting to feel like a science project.”

  
“Sorry, we’ll try. Shutting up now.”

  
Jennie leaned back on her pillow and sighed in satisfaction. _So that’s what a threesome feels like ..._


End file.
